The Toxiscape Hunt: An Escape Room-Scavenger Hunt for Toxicology Education

Audience: This scavenger hunt/escape room is a didactic activity for emergency medicine residents or fourth-year medical students rotating in emergency medicine.Introduction: Between 2008-2011, 1.1 million patients presented to U.S. emergency departments each year for poisonings, 1 including acute ingestions, envenomations, occupational exposures, and overdoses.Toxicologic exposures are considered part of the core curriculum for emergency medicine (EM) residents, who must understand the presentation and treatment of such patients.2 Educating residents in a unique, engaging format such as an "escape room" activity provides an alternative to the didactic format of teaching this material, which may build medical knowledge and team rapport amongst residents.3Linked objectives and methods: Objective six (collaborate) is evident throughout the activity.Team members must use each other's knowledge and resourcefulness to arrive at solutions to each problem.Team collaboration was very apparent during the pilot of this didactic activity (Figures 1 and 2).Each of the remaining objectives (1-5, 7-10) are achieved in each respective station of the toxiscape hunt (ie, Objective 1 is achieved in station 1).Knowledge is solidified during the answer and explanation session following the hunt.