What question did this study set out to answer?

This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation-based education and immersive technologies in enhancing empathy among healthcare learners.

July 13, 2026BMC Medical EducationOpen Access

Effectiveness of simulation technologies and virtual reality in enhancing empathy in health care education: an umbrella review

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This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation-based education and immersive technologies in enhancing empathy among healthcare learners.
Conducted an umbrella review following PRISMA 2020 guidelines.
Searched ten databases for systematic reviews on empathy enhancement in medical or nursing education using immersive technologies.
Performed meta-analysis on review-level effect estimates to summarize overall findings.
Included eleven reviews (9 quantitative and 2 qualitative) with moderate positive effect on empathy (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI 0.37–0.50).
Subgroup analysis showed consistent improvements across VR (SMD = 0.47) and clinical simulation (SMD = 0.46).
Quality assessment indicated seven reviews were high quality, with moderate heterogeneity in results (I² = 38–45%).

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Implication

Umbrella review demonstrates how simulation and immersive technologies improve empathy among healthcare learners, suggesting design over technology choice is essential.

Cite This Study

Mosalanejad et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a548105475c38bf615a57ef https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09862-9

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Implication

Umbrella review demonstrates how simulation and immersive technologies improve empathy among healthcare learners, suggesting design over technology choice is essential.

Effectiveness of simulation technologies and virtual reality in enhancing empathy in health care education: an umbrella review

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Effectiveness of simulation technologies and virtual reality in enhancing empathy in health care education: an umbrella review

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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