Enhancing Student Understanding of Rheumatic Disease Pathologies through Augmented Reality: Findings from a Multicenter Trial in Germany

Abstract Objective The possibility of combining real and virtual environments is driving the increased use of augmented reality (AR) in education, including medical training. The aim of this multi-centre study was to evaluate the students’ perspective on the AR-based Rheumality GO!® app as a new teaching concept, presenting six real anonymised patient cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Patients and methods The study encompassed 347 undergraduate medical students (232 women and 115 men) from four medical universities in Germany (Jena, Bad Nauheim/Gießen, Nuremberg, Erlangen). The course was divided into a theoretical refresher lecture followed by six AR-based cases in each of the three indications presented in the AR app (Rheumality GO!®). All participants evaluated the course after completion, assessing the benefit of the app from a student´s perspective using a questionnaire with 16 questions covering six subject areas. Results The use of the AR-based app improved the understanding of pathologies in RA, PsA, and axSpA for 99% of the participants. For 98% of respondents, the concept of AR with real patient data has made a positive impact on the teaching environment. On the other hand, 82% were in favour of the use of virtual tools (e.g. AR) in addition to this conventional approach. Conclusion The results of our study showed that from medical students' perspective, an AR-based concept can complement rheumatology teaching in medical school as an effective and attractive tool.