Wilderness medicine race for preclinical students

Introducing medical students to wilderness medicine provides skills in leadership, teamwork, improvisation, and managing medical emergencies; however, wilderness medicine (WM) education is typically reserved for senior medical students and often requires expensive travel. Here, we describe the Winter Wilderness Medicine Race (WWMR). The race was held at a large allopathic medical school and targeted towards preclinical medical students. Race planning was performed by senior medical students with the supervision of doctors from the Department of Emergency Medicine. We hypothesized that this intervention in medical education would enhance students' WM knowledge, and build teamwork and improvisational skills.

The research involved a one day WM race that required teams of first- and second-year medical students to navigate a 5-km course and complete medical scenarios. Races that were held annually between 2011 and 2014 are included in the study. The educational effectiveness of the race was evaluated by pre- and post-race knowledge assessments of the medical students participating in a WWMR. Qualitative data regarding student perceptions of the skills learned were obtained by focus group interviews. Wilderness medicine provides skills in leadership, teamwork, improvisation and managing medical emergencies

Between 2011 and 2014, 122 preclinical medical students from a Midwestern US allopathic medical school participated in the study. Overall, the mean scores for pre- and post-race knowledge assessments were 48 and 85 per cent, respectively, a 37 per cent increase in scores (p < 0.0001). Participants cited improvisational and communication skills as the most important educational feature of the race.

The Winter Wilderness Medicine Race (WWMR) enhanced preclinical medical students' wilderness medicine knowledge, teamwork skills and improvisational abilities.