Medical Teacher, Vol. 14, No. 2/3, 1992
21 1
Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Newcastle Upon Tyne on 12/21/14 For personal use only.
The survival game
J. GREEN, G. WARDMAN, J. ADAM & J. H. HASNIP, The Department of Public Health Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds
This paper describes a flexible and enjoyable learning game and summarizes our experiences of using it (including the medical students’ own evaluation of the game). The description is suficiently detailed to encourage readers to reproduce and adapt the game to fit their own requirements. SUMMARY
Introduction Undergraduate coverage of public health medicine at Leeds takes the form, in the fourth year, of a 10-day module. This relatively self-contained course is organized around the theme of health care planning and includes a number of problem-solving exercises and some learning Lgames’,one of which, The Community Medicine Game, has been the subject of two earlier papers. (Schweiger & Hasnip, 1986, 1988). The Survival Game was developed as part of the final phase of the module and seeks to review and re-inforce some of the content, in a way which is fun. It is a quiz-based board game whose more subliminal purpose is to leave students thinking of public health medicine as ‘interesting’, ‘enjoyable’ and even ‘exciting’. (Although the game is not expected to bear this burden alone!).
Format The Survival Game is played on a board approximately l f t by l f t and sub-divided into 100 equal squares, as with ‘Snakes and Ladders’. (Fig. 1). The starting square is labelled ONSET and the board is subdivided into four different coloured bands beginning with The General Practice Experience and progressing hopefully, through Outpatients and Investigations and In-patients and Surgery to Convalescence and Community Care and on to the final square marked, triumphantly, CURE. As in life so in art, there are one or two pitfalls. Whilst progressing through the ‘General Practice Experience’ for instance players can land on a square informing them ‘Bring another specimen tomorrow. Miss a turn’ or the ultimate ‘Sudden death whilst
J. Green et al.
212
10
?
lWORRMl HISS A TURN 5
7
3
4
CR[HlSl
1, CLOSLD. HISS A lURN
II
13
16
S l A R I AGAIN 18
14
ICn.llU,l.l
15
Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Newcastle Upon Tyne on 12/21/14 For personal use only.
-27-
II
19
25
23
OLCIDC
GO
.-
IB
I9
lo
-
31
36
b2
I N
54
55
llSS A lURN 67
S U R 66
65
iriim
.O BfiCK 10 66
HISS A TURN 11
15
E S C E N C E
78
'. ". '.
BACK 10 11
19
i
A N D
H4s,p ,",I l A L llV.0
a7
85
86
Ln
HISS A 1 U I 83
_-
-
C O M M
NURSf HAS U N1T y
I?
--
A
PutcluRE.
14'
__
MISS A 1UPt. 96
C
A R E 97
__
5-
81
82 7-
OlSlRlCl
-> I2
BACK 10 58 61
RElURtt 10
-
:[wIssIofI
..IU"
-I.,.
C 0N V A L
tm.
74
I8 T
21 1
Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Newcastle Upon Tyne on 12/21/14 For personal use only.
The survival game
J. GREEN, G. WARDMAN, J. ADAM & J. H. HASNIP, The Department of Public Health Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds
This paper describes a flexible and enjoyable learning game and summarizes our experiences of using it (including the medical students’ own evaluation of the game). The description is suficiently detailed to encourage readers to reproduce and adapt the game to fit their own requirements. SUMMARY
Introduction Undergraduate coverage of public health medicine at Leeds takes the form, in the fourth year, of a 10-day module. This relatively self-contained course is organized around the theme of health care planning and includes a number of problem-solving exercises and some learning Lgames’,one of which, The Community Medicine Game, has been the subject of two earlier papers. (Schweiger & Hasnip, 1986, 1988). The Survival Game was developed as part of the final phase of the module and seeks to review and re-inforce some of the content, in a way which is fun. It is a quiz-based board game whose more subliminal purpose is to leave students thinking of public health medicine as ‘interesting’, ‘enjoyable’ and even ‘exciting’. (Although the game is not expected to bear this burden alone!).
Format The Survival Game is played on a board approximately l f t by l f t and sub-divided into 100 equal squares, as with ‘Snakes and Ladders’. (Fig. 1). The starting square is labelled ONSET and the board is subdivided into four different coloured bands beginning with The General Practice Experience and progressing hopefully, through Outpatients and Investigations and In-patients and Surgery to Convalescence and Community Care and on to the final square marked, triumphantly, CURE. As in life so in art, there are one or two pitfalls. Whilst progressing through the ‘General Practice Experience’ for instance players can land on a square informing them ‘Bring another specimen tomorrow. Miss a turn’ or the ultimate ‘Sudden death whilst
J. Green et al.
212
10
?
lWORRMl HISS A TURN 5
7
3
4
CR[HlSl
1, CLOSLD. HISS A lURN
II
13
16
S l A R I AGAIN 18
14
ICn.llU,l.l
15
Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Newcastle Upon Tyne on 12/21/14 For personal use only.
-27-
II
19
25
23
OLCIDC
GO
.-
IB
I9
lo
-
31
36
b2
I N
54
55
llSS A lURN 67
S U R 66
65
iriim
.O BfiCK 10 66
HISS A TURN 11
15
E S C E N C E
78
'. ". '.
BACK 10 11
19
i
A N D
H4s,p ,",I l A L llV.0
a7
85
86
Ln
HISS A 1 U I 83
_-
-
C O M M
NURSf HAS U N1T y
I?
--
A
PutcluRE.
14'
__
MISS A 1UPt. 96
C
A R E 97
__
5-
81
82 7-
OlSlRlCl
-> I2
BACK 10 58 61
RElURtt 10
-
:[wIssIofI
..IU"
-I.,.
C 0N V A L
tm.
74
I8 T
