Game On! Designing a Novel Companion Animal, Communication-Based Board Game to Enhance Student Engagement in...

Graduates of colleges accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE) must be able to demonstrate Day One competencies in clinical communication. To deliver on this mandate, instructors of participating institutions have developed diverse content delivery strategies. Best practices often incorporate experiential learning, which has been demonstrated to enhance classroom engagement through authentic, hands-on experiences. Gamification within health care education is a growing trend that shifts curricula toward experiential learning. Research indicates that educational games prompt student motivation to acquire knowledge and reinforce complex topics. An educational board game was developed for pre-clinical students as part of required Professional Skills coursework at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine (UA CVM). This Teaching Tip describes the design of this novel game, in which learners practice clinically relevant, companion animal-based consultation tasks that prioritize communication between clients and other veterinary team members. First- and second-year student perceptions of the implementation of this game within the pre-clinical curriculum suggest that learners value the opportunity to practice professional conversations in alignment with Domain 5 (Communication) of the Competency-Based Veterinary Education (CBVE) Competency Framework. Further evaluation of the effectiveness of this mode of content delivery is planned through formalized outcomes assessment.