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Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start

Plus: This Specialty Needs Help

Author

Kyan Lynch
September 29, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Mi👋Hey, it's Ky. I'm so glad to have you in the MedEdge community.

As always, this week’s Newsletter is in SOAP note format:

Subjective: Why are Gen-Z Students Choosing Jobs with Higher Salaries and Lower Stress Levels?

Ok, that headline was a bit sassy. Here’s the real one:

Here are the facts:

“Many positions were filled by applicants who didn’t initially plan to go into pediatrics, or who have little or no clinical experience in the U.S.,” she says. “While programs were glad to welcome these trainees into the pediatrics workforce, many had to adapt their orientation and onboarding.”

Megan Aylor, MD

How are we going to turn this around?

The Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC) Pediatrics Workforce Initiative is working on it.

The taskforce is following recommendations from a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report from 2023, including:

  • Give students earlier exposure to pediatrics

  • Increase reimbursements, salaries, and student loan repayment options

  • Reform GME and CHGME funding formulas

  • Shorten fellowship training

Something’s gotta give. Kids need care.

And kids become adults.

And the care those adults received as kids will impact the care they need going forward.

This is a big problem. We’re going to need a big solution.

Objective: Gamification in MedEd

If you understood the subject line of this newsletter, I salute you 🫡.

If you didn’t, you probably had more friends than me in high school 🤓.

“Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start” is known as the Konami Code, and is the most famous cheat code in video game history 🕹️🎮.

I planted it as an “Easter Egg” for the gamers as a clue that we’ll be covering gamification today.

What is gamification?

🎮Gamification is the use of game-style elements in learning settings. 

There are lots of game-style elements, including:

  • Storylines and quests

  • Rules and player controls

  • Problem-solving and puzzles

  • Points, badges, leaderboards

  • Rewards and progress indicators

  • Social dynamics and collaboration

  • Chance, unpredictability, surprise

  • Branching choices and consequences

  • Graphics, visual cues, sound effects

  • Resource scarcity, trading, transactions
    ... and more!

What does gamification look like in medical education?

It’s more than Jeopardy!, I promise.

Here are some examples:

Of course, not all uses of gamification involve the creation of a full on product.

It can be:

Is gamification an effective educational design for MedEd?

Probably. In most cases.

The scholarship on this topic hasn’t been the most robust.

A 2023 systematic review of the literature (Salehi et al) included 53 studies (of 390) that measured the effectiveness of gamification-based interventions. Around 90% of those reported positive outcomes in knowledge acquisition, skills development, and student motivation.

There is some reason for caution, though.

Gamification strategies that rely heavily on competition might backfire, leading to undue stress and shame.

There’s no Konami Code for gamification in medical education - yet.

But there is still some fun to be had with gamification elements, especially if you encourage collaboration over competition.

Have you used gamification in your educational designs?

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Assessment: Quick Quiz!

Which learning theory categorizes learning outcomes into cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains?

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⏪Last Week’s Question:

As of 2022, what percentage of US medical students use non-institution-created online videos and resources for daily or weekly study?

Answer: 70%

Plan: Upcoming Dates & Events

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P.S - Have you ever thought about sharing your expertise more widely, and even earning extra income doing so? If so, you’ll love the freebies I have for you on my website, kyanlynch.com