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On Campus Blog
Alex Friedrich

Video: Medical school video game

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Show me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y71mMpo5asM

I grew up on video games and think it's an intriguing idea to integrate them into college teaching. But the Florida State University video above is just ... bizarre.

I got it off the ShockMD.com blog, which said it's the first in a series of health-education video games -- for medical students, residents, and geriatric fellows. The producer is planning other versions for others in the business.

ShockMD says a recent study by the University of Minnesota (where Dungeons & Dragons was developed) -- shows such games might just work. It compared one group of med students that just attended lectures with a group that used instructional games.

What it found:

...As to be expected the gaming group did enjoy the gaming more than those attending the lectures, they also had an increased knowledge of psychoparmacology and it stimulated their interest in the subject. The didactic approach with the gaming condition was higher rated than the lecture condition. In short the gaming method enhanced motivation and enjoyment.

The blog lists other examples of med-schools instructional games:

  • ‘‘war games’’ to enhance high-risk clinical decision making

  • a quiz-type board game to teach medical microbiology

  • a ‘‘Survivor’’ game to review pulmonary physiology

  • a ‘‘Jeopardy’’ game to teach about ectopic pregnancy

And we thought it was all a grind.