A Whodunit Gamified Flipped Classroom For High Yield Bite Injuries And Envenomation.

Abstract

Audience: Clerkship-level medical students, sub-interns, junior and senior residents, attending physicians.

Introduction: Bite injuries and envenomation are core content found in the model of the clinical practice of emergency medicine.1 However, depending on the geographic location of training or clinical practice, physicians may or may not be exposed to these pathologies. For example, a qualitative analysis conducted in 2022 discovered a significant range in emergency medicine (EM) physician perception of snake antivenom use and level of comfort, noting that experiences with its use ranged from hundreds of cases treated to purely didactic understanding.2 Such discrepancies necessitate supplemental education and activities to bridge the knowledge gap. Ideally, these activities would utilize tenets of experiential learning to allow learner processing comparable to that of clinical experience.3 Flipped classroom and audience participation promote engagement and active learning when compared to the passive learning of lectures.4 In that vein, there is a growing body of gamified resources in medical education which utilize pattern recognition and problem solving skills that can be analogous to clinical practice.5,6.

Educational objectives: By the end of this activity, learners will be able to: 1) identify and name species responsible for bite/sting/envenomation injuries, 2) recognize associated signs, symptoms, physical exam findings and complications associated with bites/stings/envenomations by certain species, 3) discuss management such as antibiotics, antivenom, and supportive care.

Educational methods: We designed a small group activity asking residents to identify, research, and present the "culprits" implicated in environmental exposures to animals and insects, and match them to corresponding clinical scenarios.

Research methods: Participants anonymously answered electronic multiple-choice quizzes before and after completing the activity to gauge its effectiveness in conveying the material. They also completed an additional anonymous, electronic survey regarding their attitudes towards this activity and the possibility of other gamified didactics within the curriculum.

Results: Each resident class showed an upward trend in their average multiple-choice score, the greatest of which was seen in the post-graduate year (PGY) 1 class. The residency demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their ability to answer multiple choice questions (MCQs), with an average pre-activity score of 67.14%, and post-activity score of 87.14%. Participants showed determination and enthusiasm to engage with the material when presented in a gamified format, and 100% of post-activity survey respondents wanted to participate in further gamified activities.

Discussion: Gamified small group activities are a fun and effective method of supplementing residency and medical student education for both common and esoteric clinical presentations that they may not encounter in the clinical environment.

Topics: Toxicology, bite injury, envenomation, gamification.