The researchers assigned 88 fifth-year medical students to one of two sequences according to their cardiology clerkship schedules. One group received the interactive 360 video before observing a catheterization laboratory, while the other observed the laboratory first and then completed the video module. Each student was therefore intended to experience both approaches, but allocation was not randomized. The design allowed the investigators to compare the approaches within participants while accounting for baseline understanding and the period in which each session occurred. Because sequence was determined by clerkship scheduling and the study was retrospective, the findings are associational rather than a controlled estimate of a causal teaching effect.

The module used 360-degree recordings made in an actual catheterization laboratory. Its functions included pointer-based object identification, playback synchronized with a headset, and real-time monitoring of learners’ gaze. These features differentiated it from passive 360-degree observation, although the study did not test which individual technical function, if any, was responsible for the observed difference. Self-rated understanding was measured at baseline, after the first session, and after the second session using the mean of 10 items, each rated from 1 to 5.

Baseline scores were comparable between the two sequences: 2.70 plus or minus 0.56 for the video-first group and 2.52 plus or minus 0.83 for the laboratory-first group, with p equal to 0.37. The largest separation occurred after the first session. Students assigned to interactive video first reported a mean understanding score of 4.34 plus or minus 0.58, whereas those assigned to catheterization-laboratory observation first averaged 3.41 plus or minus 0.92; the difference was reported as p less than 0.001. The interactive-video session was associated with significant score increases in either sequence. By contrast, the catheterization-laboratory session produced a significant increase only when it was delivered first.

After both sessions, the groups’ reported scores converged: 4.45 plus or minus 0.53 for the video-first sequence and 4.41 plus or minus 0.60 for the laboratory-first sequence, with p equal to 0.80. The investigators concluded that the interactive module was associated with greater early gains in self-rated understanding and proposed that similar modules might complement catheterization-laboratory observation in supporting preparation and consolidation. The evidence is limited to the study’s retrospective, non-randomized design and its use of self-reported understanding. It does not establish that the module improved objectively tested knowledge, procedural competence or patient outcomes, and it does not show that the two approaches differed after both had been completed.

Subject of Research: Effects of interactive 360 video and catheterization-laboratory observation on medical students’ self-rated cardiology understanding

Article Title: Interactive 360 video for catheterization-laboratory education in undergraduate cardiology clerkship: a retrospective two-period crossover study

Article References: Tanimoto, T., Takahata, M., Hirano, T., Kashiwagi, M., Sasaki, Y., Mori, M., Nakatsugawa, Y., Mizumoto, K., Tanaka, A., & Murata, K.-Y. (2026). Interactive 360 video for catheterization-laboratory education in undergraduate cardiology clerkship: a retrospective two-period crossover study. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10396-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10396-3

Keywords: medical education, 360-degree video, cardiology clerkship, catheterization laboratory, fifth-year medical students, self-rated understanding, retrospective crossover study, immersive learning, Interactive, video, catheterization-laboratory, education