Objective:

To (1) quantify change in learner confidence with posterior-circulation territories among medical students, and (2) synthesize residents’ experiential feedback to guide curricular refinement.

Background:

Posterior circulation neuroanatomy is spatially complex and hard to master via 2-D media. We piloted an immersive VR curriculum using 3-D vessel models (AICA/PICA/basilar) with two audiences—medical students and neurology residents—to evaluate learning impact, usability, and implementation needs.

Design/Methods:

Two complementary quality improvement studies were conducted.
(1) Medical students completed pre/post surveys during a 20–30-minute VR station. Primary outcome: self-rated confidence in appreciating posterior-circulation territories. Secondary outcomes: usability/presence and cybersickness. Paired change (Post−Pre) was summarized; a nonparametric bootstrap estimated the 95% CI.
(2) Neurology residents participated in a pilot VR session and provided open-ended feedback; we performed rapid content analysis to extract themes.

Results:

Medical students (N=24; paired n=22). Mean posterior-circulation confidence improved from 2.43 to 3.74 (+1.32 on a 1–5 scale). The bootstrap 95% CI for the mean change was entirely above zero. Usability/presence ratings were favorable (endorsing realism, engagement/captivation, feasibility, and reasonable time), and most agreed that 3-D models improved understanding and that they would use VR frequently. Reported symptoms were predominantly None/Slight across nausea, dizziness, eye strain, headache, and motion.
Residents (qualitative pilot). Strengths: accurate models; ability to rotate/enlarge vessels and brain; unique and engaging experience; practical and innovative method of learning. Improvements were suggested and found helpful for further refining the VR curriculum.

Conclusions:

A brief VR neurovascular station produced meaningful confidence gains in medical students with high usability and low cybersickness, while resident feedback identified concrete design tweaks (readability, color, pointers, pacing, group size) to optimize delivery. Together, these findings support VR as a practical adjunct to traditional neuroanatomy teaching and outline implementation guidelines for residency-level integration. Future work should expand to randomized or multi-site trials and include performance-based outcomes.