The use of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies has been extensively researched in surgical and anatomical education. VR provides a lifelike and interactive environment where healthcare providers can practice and refresh their skills in a safe environment. VR has been shown to be as effective as traditional medical education teaching methods, with the potential to provide more cost-effective and convenient means of curriculum delivery, especially in rural and remote areas or in environments with limited access to hands-on training. In this sense, VR offers the potential to be used to support resuscitation training for healthcare providers such as the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP). The NRP program is an evidence-based and standardized approach for training healthcare providers on the resuscitation of the newborn. In this article, we describe a VR simulation environment that was designed and developed to refresh the skills of NRP providers. To validate this platform, we compared the VR-NRP simulation with exposure to 360-degree immersive video. We found that both VR technologies were positively viewed by healthcare professionals and performed very similarly to each other. However, the VR simulation provided a significantly increased feeling of presence. Furthermore, participants found the VR simulation more useful, leading to improved experiential learning outcomes. Also, participants using VR simulation reported higher confidence in certain NRP skills, such as proper mask placement and newborn response evaluation. This research represents a step forward in understanding how VR and related extended reality (XR) technologies can be applied for effective, immersive medical education, with potential benefits for remote and rural healthcare providers.

翻译：虚拟现实（VR）技术在手术与解剖学教育中的应用已得到广泛研究。VR能够提供逼真且具交互性的环境，使医疗从业者能在安全的情境中练习与巩固技能。研究表明，VR与传统医学教学方法具有同等效力，并有望提供更具成本效益且便捷的课程实施方式，特别是在农村、偏远地区或实践培训资源受限的环境中。由此，VR技术具备支持医疗从业者开展复苏培训（如新生儿复苏计划（NRP））的潜力。NRP项目是基于循证医学的标准化培训体系，旨在指导医疗从业者掌握新生儿复苏技能。本文阐述了一个专为巩固NRP操作者技能而设计与开发的VR模拟环境。为验证该平台，我们将VR-NRP模拟与360度沉浸式视频体验进行对比研究。结果显示，医疗专业人员对两种VR技术均持积极态度，且二者表现高度相似。然而，VR模拟能显著提升临场感。此外，参与者认为VR模拟更具实用性，有助于提升体验式学习效果。使用VR模拟的参与者还表示，其在特定NRP技能（如面罩正确放置与新生儿反应评估）方面获得了更高自信。本研究为理解VR及相关扩展现实（XR）技术如何应用于高效沉浸式医学教育推进了一步，对偏远地区医疗从业者具有潜在益处。