An online escape room as an icebreaker in interdisciplinary and international health care professions education: A pilot mixed-methods study of “UKA Escape”

This pilot study explored the use of an online escape room at RWTH Aachen University Hospital (UKA Escape) as an icebreaker. The game was developed for the introductory day of an international program aimed at teaching scientific skills in health professions education. The group activity in the online escape room was designed to provide an engaging introduction to the course and the subsequent learning group(s). Based on the story of a medical researcher and her team, who have developed a revolutionary serum, students must try to escape from the digital lab and save the serum. To this end, the students worked in five small groups to solve science-related puzzles. An interactive and synchronous collaboration was facilitated despite physical distance using a video conferencing tool. The usability of the digital escape room was rated in the fourth quartile (system usability scale score of <i>M</i>=81.25). In line with the questionnaire-based feedback, students' qualitative feedback was predominantly positive, with indications of areas for improvement. Overall, the results indicate that the students greatly appreciated the online escape room and that teamwork was encouraged, demonstrating the potential of escape rooms in health professions education.