Virtual reality enhances ophthalmic anatomy learning: experimental evidence on comparable outcomes with peer…

Cohort studyBMC medical education· Jun 2026

Virtual reality enhances ophthalmic anatomy learning: experimental evidence on comparable outcomes with peer and expert facilitators.

Ayşe Soylu, Ahmet Yücel Üçgül, Raşid Alkan … Tuncay Veysel Peker

OphthalmologyCohort studyQ1IF 4.5

Peer-led virtual reality teaching matched expert-led teaching for ophthalmic anatomy learning

Virtual reality enhances ophthalmic anatomy learning: experimental evidence on comparable outcomes with peer and expert facilitators.

Ayşe Soylu … Tuncay Veysel Peker

BMC medical education · Jun 2026 · Q1 in General Medicine

Background

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality (virtual reality) for learning ophthalmic anatomy and to determine whether peer-assisted facilitation produces learning outcomes comparable to expert-assisted facilitation among preclinical medical students.

Methods

This is a prospective controlled experimental study with repeated-measures assessments.

n = 31,

Results

peer- and expert-led groups scored about the same on the anatomy test

Peer-assisted

15.1score

Expert-assisted

15.2score

More results

Among second-year students, knowledge scores improved significantly across timepoints (repeated-measures ANOVA: F(2,124) = 251.0, p<.001, η²ₚ=0.802).

Among fifth-year students, knowledge scores also increased significantly across instructional stages (F(2,106) = 33.4, p<.001, η²ₚ=0.387).

More results

Despite higher baseline scores among senior students (t(121)=-3.17, p=.002), post-virtual reality performance was comparable between cohorts (t(115) = 1.11, p=.269).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Peer-assisted facilitation produced learning outcomes comparable to expert-assisted instruction while maintaining high learner satisfaction and minimal simulator sickness.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings suggest that peer facilitation may represent a scalable approach for implementing virtual reality-based anatomy education.

Virtual reality enhances ophthalmic anatomy learning: experimental evidence on comparable outcomes with peer and expert facilitators.

Virtual reality enhances ophthalmic anatomy learning: experimental evidence on comparable outcomes with peer and expert facilitators.

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