Iranian Journal of Medical Education

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Introduction:Educational methods can be classified into two groups: active methods and passive ones. Applying games is an active approach in teaching. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of games on teaching oncology. Methods: Twenty three medical students participated in the study. They took two class sessions of oncology. In the first session the basic principles and concepts on oncology were taought and in the second session , they were randomly divided in two groups. A selected modified text of esophagus cancer treatment from up-to-date version 17.3 was presented to both groups. Some especial cards containing a cancer treatment modality were given to the case group. The students were asked to sequence the possible treatments for the case. At the end of the session, esophagus cancer treatment was presented to the students. The students’ responses were gathered, scored and compared applying T test. Results:They were 12 in the experiment and 11 in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean score of the control (28.46 ± 22.6) and experiment(55.8±26.1)groups, (t=2.67, df =17.63, p=0.016). The number of sequences proposed by the control group was (4.85 ± 1.72), while the number of sequences in the experiment group was 3.85 ± 0.07, resulting in t=2.54, df =16.751, p=0.021. Discussion: The mean score in the experiment group is significantly higher than that of the control group. Although the time spent was equal in both groups ,the game lead to more concentration and deeper learning in the experiment group. Significantly, the number of treatment sequences in the experiment group is lower than that of the control group. It seems that treatment selection was done more delicately and responsibly by the experiment group. So, teaching oncology through games can increase learning in medical students, which in turn,leads to better treatment selection and problem solving.

Keywords: Oncology, game, teaching methods

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