Fig 1.
Participant timeline: Schedule of enrolment, interventions, and assessments as recommended by the 2025 SPIRIT statement.
* Enrolment and allocation will take place 1–8 weeks prior to t1. t1, t2, and t3 will be conducted in the morning, midday, and afternoon of the same day, respectively. ABCDE: airways, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure; CTS: clinical teamwork scale; DASH-SV: debriefing assessment for simulation in healthcare student version; IMI: intrinsic motivation inventory; NASA-TLX: national aeronautics and space administration task load index; SUS: system usability scale; VR: virtual reality; VRSQ: virtual reality sickness questionnaire.
Fig 2.
Illustration of pretest, posttest, and intervention phases.
The self-guided group will receive a debriefing script based on the Promoting Excellence And Reflective Learning in Simulation (PEARLS) framework [43] adapted for VR and self-guided use [30,44]. No facilitator will be present, but participants may request technical support. A research assistant will introduce the VR simulation, administer questionnaires, and confirm that all scenarios and debriefings were completed.
Table 1.
Assessment tools, research hypothesis, and outcome measures.