The influence of VERT™ characteristics on the development of skills in skin apposition techniques

The introduction of the Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training (VERT™) has enabled pre-registration students to prepare for practice placements. The novelty of this resource means that its impact upon human performance in certain radiotherapy techniques has yet to be tested.This study investigated the influence of virtual environment characteristics on the development of skills previously honed exclusively in the clinical environment. Specifically the development of the electron treatment skin apposition technique. A specific treatment site was selected on the virtual patient and student performance, in terms of set-up to the treatment site, was determined by dataset software indicators.Forty four year 1 and 2 pre-registration radiotherapy students were involved in the study. Their perceptions with regard to confidence and skills development in terms of electron skin apposition were analysed with questionnaires. Respondents found the resource intrinsically motivating and perceived enhanced skin apposition skills (80%) and confidence levels (89%) as a consequence of using VERT™. Further study of this resource is on-going to examine its influence on student performance within the clinical environment.