Improving Fellow Research Study Design Skills and Confidence Through Gamification

Abstract

Intro: During Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship fellows are required to gain understanding of the whole research process and author substantial scholarship. Despite this, few graduating fellows plan on a research career, and fellows often feel inadequately prepared for a research career upon graduation, reporting challenges of identifying research questions and designing feasible projects as major barriers to choosing a research career. Purpose/Objective: We aimed to improve trainee confidence and comfort with identifying research questions and research project design via an engaging, collaborative, table-top research game. We designed a team competition that utilized cards, dice, and play money to give trainees the freedom to explore and experiment with research design while considering the realistic constraints of study completion including funding, time, enrollment challenges, barriers to publication, and more. Methods: We performed a pilot of the research game with 8 pediatric emergency medicine fellows in years 1-3 of fellowship early in the academic year. The game took place during 2 hours of a weekly education session, with the assistance of several emergency medicine faculty with varying academic and research interests. Fellows were surveyed immediately before and immediately after the game session to assess comfort and confidence with various aspects of the research process. Outcomes: PEM fellows reported overall positive views of the research game. On a 5-point likert scale, 100% reported the game was very fun (4 or 5) and 75% the activity was highly valuable (4 or 5). When asked in which research competencies their comfort most improved, fellows reported “identifying a research question,” “performing a literature review,” and “designing a research study.” 100% recommended repeating the game with future PEM fellows. Summary: The pilot implementation of our novel research game demonstrated promise in improving learner comfort and agency with research design and implementation, which are areas identified in previous studies as significant barriers to fellows pursuing careers in research beyond graduation. Our goal is to incorporate this game into our fellow research curriculum to lessen those barriers, and increase the likelihood fellows will consider incorporating research into their careers after graduation. The game was universally regarded as a fun learning experience by participating fellows. While the game was piloted with PEM trainees, it would be easily implemented with a variety of learner groups in the future, including emergency medicine residents and emergency medicine fellows, with the hope of decreasing barriers to trainees considering research careers as faculty. Our plan is to incorporate this game into our fellow research curriculum moving forward with the hope of decreasing barriers to trainees considering research careers as faculty.