The circles of care game © - using gaming to teach interprofessional teamwork in clerkship

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to gain insight into how online gaming can teach medical students about interprofessional collaborative practice and promote their development of interprofessional competencies prior to clerkship. This prospective cohort study involved third year medical students from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, Ontario, Canada who participated in the ‘Circles of Care’© online board game. A total of 97 student reflections were obtained and subjected to conventional qualitative descriptive content analysis. The transcribed data were analyzed question by question and line by line. Themes evolved from four questions: (1) What surprised you the most about teamwork from this learning activity, (2) What did you learn about collaborative teamwork, (3) What will you take away from this learning event to use in your practice, and (4) Please comment on the value of using a game such as this one to develop your collaborative team practice. A total of seven themes emerged including: “Gaining insights”, “What worked and what did not”, “Openness to learning”, “Comfort in sharing with others”, “Commitment and skepticism”, “Being a seeker”, and “Continuum of value to learning and practice”. Analysis of the student reflections illustrated the potential of using an online-based game to effectively introduce and teach interprofessional competencies to medical students.

KEYWORDS:

• Medical education
• interprofessional education
• interprofessional collaboration
• gaming
• interprofessional attitude
• allied healthcare professionals

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The Office of Interprofessional Health Education & Research at Western University.

Notes on contributors

Adrian Chan

Mr. Adrian Chan completed an honors bachelor degree in medical science specializing in microbiology and immunology at Western University. This research was conducted while he was an undergraduate student at Western University. Since completing the research, he has graduated from the Master of Biotechnology program at the University of Toronto.

Kevin Fung

Dr. Kevin Fung is a Professor and Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University and its teaching hospitals, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care.

Carole Orchard

Dr. Carole Orchard is a Professor at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at Western University. She is also the Coordinator for Interprofessional Health Education and Research at Western University.