Use of an immersive, simulated learning game to teach pharmacy students clinical concepts of toxicology

Abstract Background and purpose Management of a poisoned patient is a critical part of any health care professional's education. A new, innovative teaching platform was developed allowing students to try to “break out” of various kits, locks, and scrambled codes to build collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills – similar to the recently popular “escape rooms.” Our purpose was to illustrate how this learning game can be utilized in pharmacy education to teach and apply clinical knowledge and evaluate its effectiveness on student-perceived confidence and competency in management of toxicologic emergencies. Educational activity and setting Students participated as part of an acute care elective. They worked in small groups and were given the same test pre- and post-quiz for two cases. Students were also administered a survey about their confidence in managing toxidromes after completion of the activity. Findings Drastic improvements in test scores were observed with both cases' pre- and post-test. Students also found the activity increased their knowledge of toxicology concepts and level of student-perceived confidence in managing similar cases. The majority of students were satisfied with the experience and thought it should be included elsewhere in the doctor of pharmacy curriculum. Summary The learning game was an effective and satisfying educational tool to understand and apply medical toxicology principles for pharmacy students. Additional implementation of this game would be preferred by most students and may aid in the education of other health care professionals on complex clinical management of toxicology cases.