Background
Sim Wars is a simulation‐based competition wherein teams of medical trainees are presented a clinical scenario and provide patient care in front of a live audience. This non‐traditional educational offering is a form of serious games in medical education and allows for experiential learning via direct observation. Although a well‐described educational modality within graduate medical education, there is a dearth of literature regarding Sim Wars as an educational tool within undergraduate medical education. In this paper, we aim to share student perspectives after participating in Sim Wars.
Approach
The Sim Wars competition was designed as a double‐elimination bracket tournament with arena‐style direct observation to maximise student engagement. Teams were provided formative feedback in areas of medical knowledge, clinical management and communication skills. A total of 64 students participated in a regional Sim Wars tournament over the course of 2 years.
Evaluation
A total of 36 students completed Likert‐based surveys immediately after the Sim Wars competition. Quantitative data and open‐ended responses were analysed. Fourteen students participated in focus groups held a few months after Sim Wars regarding their experiences during the competition. Thematic analysis was systematically performed on the qualitative data.
Implication
Participation in Sim Wars was viewed by students as a high‐yield learning experience that increased competence on subsequent clinical rotations. We conclude that this form of serious game can be a highly beneficial educational format for medical students especially if they spend time preparing for the competition and receive structured feedback on their performance.
Thrombectomy became the gold-standard treatment of acute ischemic stroke caused by large-vessel occlusions (LVO) in 2015 after five clinical trials published that year demonstrated significantly improved patient outcomes. In subsequent years, advances in stroke systems of care have centered around improving access to and expanding patient eligibility for thrombectomy. The prehospital and acute stroke treatment settings have had the greatest emphasis. Numerous prehospital stroke scales now provide emergency medical services with focused physical exams to identify LVOs, and many devices to non-invasively detect LVO are undergoing clinical testing. Mobile stroke units deployed throughout Western Europe and the USA also show promising results by bringing elements of acute stroke care directly to the patient. Numerous clinical trials since 2015 have aimed to increase candidates for thrombectomy by expanding indications and the eligibility time window. Further optimizations of thrombectomy treatment have focused on the role of thrombolytics and other adjunctive therapies that may promote neuroprotection and neurorecovery. While many of these approaches require further clinical investigation, the next decade shows significant potential for further advances in stroke care.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13311-023-01371-7.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.