Use of an Escape Room Experience in Emergency Veterinary Medicine Education

Abstract

Escape room experiences have been used as an educational tool in several health professions, and to the authors’ knowledge, it is not yet documented in veterinary medicine. They are an example of gamification in a simulated environment where course objectives guide puzzle development. Veterinary emergency medicine can be very stressful as veterinarians often have to make quick decisions. The element of a time limit adds stress to the experience as learners must complete the puzzles within a specified time to successfully escape the room. This article describes the development and delivery of an escape room experience in emergency veterinary medicine to third year students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. In a survey following the experience, learners indicated they enjoyed participating in the learning activity. They felt it encouraged the use of communication, collaboration, and leadership skills which have been identified as core competencies in veterinary education. While on average learners would disagree with the experience being stressful, several commented that it was a “good stress”. This indicates that the experience may have been considered challenging to learners, which in simulation, supports a positive way to achieving learning objectives that may not overstress participants.