title: Teaching a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment during surgical clerkship via an interactive board game.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although educators agree that the approach to cancer management must be multidisciplinary, medical students usually observe cancer patients through the eyes of a single specialist at any given time.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to teach third-year medical students that cancer management is multidisciplinary, we developed the Oncology Game, an interactive, computer-assisted board game built on the principles of self-directed learning and student-student interaction. Eight "patients" with different histologic types of cancer are distributed randomly to 4 students, who play in teams of 2. The object is for the team to obtain the best treatment for its patients by advancing them via a roll of dice through surgical, medical, and radiation oncology clinics in the order most logical for the patient's particular cancer type. To test improvement in cognitive skills as a function of play, 16 students participated in a tournament taking parallel pretest and posttests before and after each round of play.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students demonstrated a statistically significant change in the total number of questions answered correctly each time they played the Oncology Game (F = 4.16, P = 0.018; Pretest Round 1: 8.88 +/- 0.58; Posttest Round 1: 9.63 +/- 0.42; Pretest Round 2: 10.75 +/- 0.62; Posttest Round 2: 11.5 +/- 0.85). Post hoc pairwise comparison revealed a significant improvement in student performance after playing two rounds of the Oncology Game. Based on the postgame survey, students felt they improved their understanding of oncologic principles (4.56 +/- 0.13), knowledge of malignancies (4.50 +/- 0.13), and appreciation for the multidisciplinary nature of cancer management (4.56 +/- 0.13).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improved test scores and postgame survey results demonstrate that third-year medical student students can learn about basic oncology principles and gain an appreciation for oncology as a multidisciplinary field of medicine through an interactive, computer-assisted board game.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129, USA.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Fukuchi
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Offutt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sacks
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Mann
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005717:Games, Experimental; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*; D016014:Linear Models; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface