Medical education has changed focus to a more learner-centred model, placing learners at the centre of innovations in training.The escape room is one such innovative learner-focused activity, in which a team of players cooperatively discover clues, solve puzzles and complete tasks in order to progress through the challenge to achieve a specific goal. Escape rooms can be used in medical education as a tool for team building, an entertaining way of delivering technical and non-technical skills, to read and acquire or refresh knowledge, as well as for educational research. Despite appearing to be a superficial form of entertainment, escape rooms can be grounded in sound educational theory and, when used effectively, act as a low-cost, high-impact resource for a variety of learners. While escape rooms may well be an example of yet another educational 'fad' demonstrating the rising influence of 'Millennial MedEd', it signals a promising shift to more learner-centred, team-based methods which are essential to the practice of safe modern healthcare during the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Summary Background A UK dermatology curricula review has suggested that undergraduate delivery relies on lectures and is subject to clinical and staffing pressures. Many UK undergraduate students feel less than adequately prepared to manage dermatological conditions, and misconceptions about dermatology are common. Educators have called for innovative solutions, including small group teaching. Escape rooms are games requiring teams to solve puzzles to escape from a room. Aim To assess the impact of an escape room game on perceptions of dermatology among undergraduate medical students. Methods Students were invited to an escape room to consolidate lessons taught in a previous lecture. Students were first asked to complete a questionnaire about their preferred learning environments, perceptions of dermatology and confidence in content. Following the escape room event, these questions were revisited. Focus groups were then held to explore themes raised. Results In total, 16 students took part in the escape room sessions and in 3 focus groups. Feedback was strongly positive, with 100% of students expressing ‘strongly agree’ on whether they enjoyed the session. Qualitative data were coded for themes of accessibility, variety of taught content and awareness. The majority (94%) of students stated the escape room made them want to experience more dermatology. Conclusion Prejudices about dermatology exist among medical students, and may act as a barrier to perceived accessibility to the specialty. Escape rooms can provide a shift to a more learner‐centred approach, which may aid in combating these negative perceptions. They may act as an enjoyable means of consolidating lecture‐based and clinical teaching, and require minimal resources.

Introduction There are over 3.81 billion worldwide active social media (SoMe) users. SoMe are ubiquitous in medical education, with roles across undergraduate programmes, including professionalism, blended learning, well being and mentoring. Previous systematic reviews took place before recent explosions in SoMe popularity and revealed a paucity of high‐quality empirical studies assessing its effectiveness in medical education. This review aimed to synthesise evidence regarding SoMe interventions in undergraduate medical education, to identify features associated with positive and negative outcomes. Methods Authors searched 31 key terms through seven databases, in addition to references, citation and hand searching, between 16 June and 16 July 2020. Studies describing SoMe interventions and research on exposure to existing SoMe were included. Title, abstract and full paper screening were undertaken independently by two reviewers. Included papers were assessed for methodological quality using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) and/or the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) instrument. Extracted data were synthesised using narrative synthesis. Results 112 studies from 26 countries met inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of included studies had not significantly improved since 2013. Engagement and satisfaction with SoMe platforms in medical education are described. Students felt SoMe flattened hierarchies and improved communication with educators. SoMe use was associated with improvement in objective knowledge assessment scores and self‐reported clinical and professional performance, however evidence for long term knowledge retention was limited. SoMe use was occasionally linked to adverse impacts upon mental and physical health. Professionalism was heavily investigated and considered important, though generally negative correlations between SoMe use and medical professionalism may exist. Conclusions Social media is enjoyable for students who may improve short term knowledge retention and can aid communication between learners and educators. However, higher‐quality study is required to identify longer‐term impact upon knowledge and skills, provide clarification on professionalism standards and protect against harms.