Gut Games: a Board Game to Integrate Basic and Clinical Sciences for the Classroom.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Traditional lectures are being replaced by interactive small-group learning in medical schools.
• There is a need for engaging methods to review diverse medical content.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a game-based activity for medical student engagement and course review.
• To assess student feedback on the novel learning approach.

Main Methods:

• A game-based learning activity was developed using 32 questions from 11 discipline directors.
• 133 medical student participants engaged in the activity as a course review session.

Main Results:

• The game-based activity was rated highest among 11 course sessions, with an average quality score of 4.68/6.
• Students found the activity fun, engaging, and conducive to active, team-based learning across multiple specialties.
• Feedback indicated the session was comprehensive but lengthy.

Conclusions:

• Game-based learning is an effective strategy to enhance medical student engagement and facilitate broad content review.
• This approach promotes active, collaborative learning, aligning with modern pedagogical shifts in medical education.