Implementing an Escape Room for Clinical Skills Practice in a Paediatrics Clerkship

Abstract

Background

Escape rooms include the same experiential learning methods that make traditional simulation practices effective while adding gamification which improves learner engagement. Our existing simulation curriculum lacked active experimentation, an essential component of Kolb's experiential learning cycle. The goal of this curriculum innovation was to determine the feasibility of adding an escape room immediately following the simulation to provide an effective independent learning experience for learners.

Approach

We created a 40-min escape room activity using principles of self-determination theory. All students in the paediatric clerkship participated once over one academic year. Students were presented with an unstable child with seizures and worked in teams of 3–5 to open locks and solve puzzles as they applied nine clinical skills learned from the preceding simulation session.

Evaluation

Students (N = 66) reported increases in knowledge after both the simulation and the escape room and an increase in confidence after completing the escape room, indicating we were successful in adding active experimentation to our curriculum. They also commented on the value of applying and practising new skills and of engaging in teamwork, which reinforced the utilization of self-determination theory as a guiding principle for escape room design.

Implications

Our escape room is novel in that it takes place in a paediatric clerkship setting and builds upon existing curricular elements to provide students with independent practice of clinical skills in a gamified and fun approach early in their clinical training years. Escape rooms are a feasible and an effective method to provide hands-on experience to clinical learning.