Simulation Escape Room Recognized by the IAMSE

The Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership Simulation Center is being recognized for an innovative way to help students learn.

The center had an oral presentation accepted to the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) for their use of a Simulation Escape Room.

The Sim Escape Room first made its way to the first- and second-year curriculum in 2020 to help students become acclimated with the sim suite.

“I had seen a few presentations and articles about nursing schools using escape rooms to reinforce clinical information, and only one or two that were designed for medical students,” said Dr. Aimee Martin, Campus Director of Simulation and Ultrasound.

“We wanted to come up with an interactive, hands-on way for students to become oriented to the simulated medical environment and to give them the opportunity to become familiar with the simulated patient manikins,” said Simulation Laboratory Coordinator Sarah Gibbs.

The sim curriculum had received feedback that first year students wanted a better orientation to the sim suite and the manikins, so Martin and Gibbs brainstormed ways to make that become a reality.

“We piloted the escape room three times with different groups of students and faculty in order to make sure all of the puzzles and clues worked like we wanted them to,” said Martin.

Martin said not only does the escape room allow for students to get a feel of the sim suite, it also helps them work on teamwork—the better the teamwork, the faster the escape time.

After the success of the Escape Room Simulation, the activity will remain in the M1 and M2 curriculum for the fall of each year, but it may make its way further into the medical community.

“I am contemplating redesigning our existing escape room format to be more appropriate for orienting interns and residents to the sim environment,” said Martin. “This will likely involve using more challenging clinical puzzles, and perhaps making the stakes a little higher (like a bad patient outcome) if they don’t escape the room in the allotted time.”

“I am glad we can share the activity with others, and I hope other simulation centers who want to create an escape room activity can use it as a template or a guide,” said Gibbs.

The oral presentation, “Using an Escape Room Activity to Orient Leaners to the Simulated Medical Environment” (authors on the project include Martin, Gibbs, Casey Bassett, PhD, Matt Boegehold, PhD, and Julie Gaines, MLIS) will be presented by Martin at the virtual IAMSE Annual Conference June 12-17.