A Comparative Study of AR/VR-Based Surgical Simulation and Conventional Training Methods for Medical Students in India

Abstract

The study compared the effectiveness of AR and VR surgery simulation modules with traditional training methods in 142 medical students (71 in the AR/VR group and 71 in the conventional group) from January to August 2025 in the Delhi-NCR medical institutions. The three main dimensions of the research were surgical skill acquisition, learning outcome comparisons and engagement levels. Students who had been trained using AR/VR showed statistically significant improvements in the mean procedural surgical knowledge scores (106.8 ± 14.2 vs 91.4 ± 16.8, p = 0.0002), reduction in time-to-proficiency (4.2 ± 1.8 hours vs 8.6 ± 2.4 hours, p < 0.001), and better satisfaction scores (4.78 ± 0.32 vs 3.92 ± 0.68 on 5-point scale, p < 0.001). The combined effect size (Cohen's d) for all the skill measures was 0.82, which suggests a significant educational gain. Marginally faster learning curves were achieved using conventional methods with no retention benefits. The results from student engagement metrics showed that the intrinsic motivation of the AR/VR group was significantly higher than the group without AR/VR (4.52 ± 0.41 vs. 3.28 ± 0.89, p < 0.001), and for the perceived self-efficacy metric, there was no significant difference between the two groups. This study validates the role of AR/VR simulation as an effective auxiliary tool in surgical education in the limited resource scenario of Indian medical institutes; However, it demands a substantial investment of the infrastructure in the institutes and standardisation of the faculty members.
Keywords: Augmented Reality; Virtual Reality; Surgical Simulation; Medical Education; AR/VR Training; Skill Acquisition; Delhi-NCR; Engagement; Learning Outcomes