Application of Metaverse in Medical Education: A Systematic Review
Shahin Mojiri, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi Dehaghani, Mohammad SattariAbstract
Background:
Metaverse is a broad term that could be one of the most important technologies of the future. In fact, metaverse refers to a world where people live under the rules of the creator of that world.
Methods:
This review examines the current state and educational impact of metaverse technologies in medical education, drawing on a comprehensive analysis of 34 peer-reviewed studies. The searched databased are Emerald, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Eric.
Results:
The findings reveal a rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary adoption of platforms such as Second Life, extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) across a wide spectrum of medical education domains, including surgical training, radiology, anatomy, clinical skills development, and patient education. Metaverse environments have shown to enhance learner engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention while enabling safe, risk-free practice and remote accessibility—features particularly valuable during disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, widespread implementation faces significant challenges, including high infrastructure costs, technical and usability barriers, content development demands, limited tactile feedback, and equity issues related to technological access.
Conclusions:
Most studies are preliminary or pilot in nature, underscoring the urgent need for larger-scale, longitudinal, and comparative research to validate effectiveness and inform best practices. Overall, while metaverse technologies hold considerable promise to transform traditional medical education through personalized, immersive, and competency-based approaches, their full potential will be realized through sustained research, strategic investment, and thoughtful integration into educational curricula.