Contents
Presenters
Dr Amandeep Singh – Honorary Clinical Lecturer
Poster
Our proposal incorporates co-design through the identification of a gap within the anatomical curriculum, for which we have used virtual reality anatomy as a solution. This teaching method was highly engaging for students and many were keen to have more learning sessions available to them.
Anatomy education at City St George’s has experienced several constraints in recent years according to informal feedback from student cohorts, including limited access to full-body dissection and a reliance on prosection and underutilised digital tools. Students have described anatomy learning as highly self-directed and sometimes difficult to engage with. In response, we piloted a co-designed virtual reality (VR) anatomy session using Meta Quest 3 headsets and the Human Anatomy VR app by Virtual Medicine. The project aims to create immersive, self-directed learning that supports students in visualising complex anatomy more effectively in 3D.
The session, delivered as a two-hour drop-in, enabled T year students to independently explore anatomical structures. Engagement and motivation were notably high: all students rated the experience 5/5 for enjoyment and effectiveness, and post-session confidence in using VR increased by a mean of +1.6 points (95% CI: +0.49 to +2.71). One student noted: “This is a great way of learning anatomy… every medical school needs to implement this into their curriculum.” Another commented: “Something I’ve struggled with in anatomy teaching became clearer using VR.”
Framed by constructivist, situated learning, and cognitive load theories, this initiative creates an engaging simulation of anatomical structures of the body. It is particularly valuable for students with limited access to cadaveric materials and offers a flexible, low-staff alternative that complements existing teaching.
Working within a students-as-partners model, we are now co-designing structured, outcome-driven VR sessions with students IW (T year) and EM (pre-clinical), focusing on harder-to-visualise topics like the internal heart or vagus nerve. Limitations around hardware and scalability are being addressed iteratively through action research.
This project fills a longstanding curriculum gap in a highly engaging manner and offers strong potential for broader integration, scholarship, and collaboration across anatomy education.
References
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Nicholson, D.T., Chalk, C., Funnell, W.R.J. and Daniel, S.J., 2006. Can virtual reality improve anatomy education? A comparison with cadaveric dissection. Medical Teacher, 28(5), pp.393–397.
Sweller, J., 1994. Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4(4), pp.295–312.
Vygotsky, L.S., 1978. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yammine, K. and Violato, C., 2015. A meta-analysis of the educational effectiveness of three-dimensional visualization technologies in teaching anatomy. Anatomical Sciences Education, 8(6), pp.525–538.
