Design and Implementation of an Educational Escape Room for Clinical Simulation in Veterinary Emergency Training: Students' Perceptions.

Authors

Cantal Del Río-Martínez, Cristina Bonastre, Sandra López-Mínguez, Cristina González Pastor, Julia Laliena Aznar, Francisco Javier Miana-Mena

Published in

Journal of veterinary medical education. Pages e20250175. Jul 09, 2026. Epub Jul 09, 2026.

Abstract

Emergency medicine presents unique educational challenges for veterinary students, who often face limited clinical exposure and high levels of stress during rotations. To address this, a gamified clinical simulation-designed as an escape room-was developed to simulate a night shift in a small animal emergency service. The activity combined computer-based scenarios with practical tasks using simulators and ultrasound phantoms, allowing students to work collaboratively through five sequential clinical challenges. Forty-five students, including final-year undergraduates and post-graduate interns, participated voluntarily in teams. Completion times and post-experience survey data were used to evaluate performance and perceptions. Participants reported high levels of enjoyment (4.84 ± 0.36), motivation (4.87 ± 0.40), and peer interaction (4.94 ± 0.30). They also perceived strong educational value, particularly for decision making (4.76 ± 0.49) and confidence in emergency procedures (4.46 ± 0.69). Qualitative feedback highlighted the value of simulation-based procedural training, emotional engagement, and the narrative structure of the activity. Although implementation requires simulation resources, the escape room demonstrated strong educational value and alignment with competency-based education frameworks. The integration of gamification and clinical simulation fostered active learning and reinforced both cognitive and procedural skills. This approach may serve as a replicable model for competency-based veterinary education in emergency and critical care training.

PMID:
42424646
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Jul 2026.

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