Escape rooms have been trending in the past years among young
adults, as teamwork, ingenuity and knowledge merge in a both distended
but competitive environment. Inspired by it, a physiology escape room
was designed for second year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine
in Malaga on a peer-to-peer teaching basis. Indeed, physiology
intern students from higher courses structured a practical escape room
that covered the topics of the first human physiology course, focusing
on cardiovascular and respiratory physiology. As a result, these
students replaced regular teachers in this activity, taking control of the
design, promotion, preparation, execution, evaluation and follow-up of
the event. The escape room was done in mid-December, when all practical
and theoretical content of the subject had already been delivered.
It was divided in four stages, two for each topic, adding a final case,
connected to the beginning of the activity. Participants were asked to
team up freely in groups of 4-6 students. This activity was done during
three years, readapting the structure to evaluate impact on students’
learning and exam results. Our statistical analysis showed an increase
in final exam grade of students that participated in escape room with a
magnitude of 1.03 ± 0.65 points (p < 0.005) compared with those who
did not, as well as an increase in global final grade with a magnitude
of 1.34 ± 0.83 points (p < 0.005). Additionally, the students that participated
showed a significantly higher performance in the final exam
regarding cardiovascular (p < 10-
4) and respiratory-related questions (p
< 0.005). Furthermore, positive feedback was given by participants on
how they found the activity, independently on the impact in grade (as
this was done prior to the exam). We conclude this teaching tool should
be furtherly assessed in following years in order to implement a peer-topeer
teaching structure that can maximize its utility to medical students.
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