813 Improving Surgical Education Through Gamification – the Creation of SurgiPlay, a Surgical Education Game

Aim Gamification is the process of making a task more engaging by adding game-like elements. Gamification has become a considerable component of education and has forged its way into medical education. Literature praises gamification, and with technological advancement, its use has widened, providing new ways of learning. This project aimed to improve surgical induction and education at a District General Hospital (DGH), using gamification, through the creation of SurgiPlay. Method SurgiPlay is an interactive board game created to aid surgical education and provide a thorough surgical induction that is engaging and consistent. This game looks at four key elements of a “junior surgical doctors” job – ward jobs, clerking, clinical skills, and post-operative complications. It also includes the key induction processes, including referral pathways, staffing, and prioritising. Surgical Foundation doctors completed pre-SurgiPlay and post-SurgiPlay questionnaires to analyse the effectiveness of the game. Results The induction process was inconsistent, left questions unanswered, and was not engaging enough for the trainees to remember key elements. A fundamental problem was the need for more staff to cover induction/teaching. Surgiplay retracts this need, allowing new doctors to induct themselves without impacting patient care and clinical commitments. In the post-SurgiPlay questionnaires, 78% of respondents felt confident upon commencing their placement, with 66.6% feeling confident in their basic surgical skills. Further, respondents felt the gamewas “interactive”, “different” and “motivated through a new type of learning.” Conclusions Continual adaptations will be made to SurgiPlay, with hopes it will pioneer a new route for gamification in medical education.