Teaching a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment during surgical clerkship via an interactive board game.
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.
Fukuchi
S G
SG
Department of Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129, USA.
Offutt
L A
LA
Sacks
J
J
Mann
B D
BD
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