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Life sciences · Journal article
Open Forum Infectious Diseases · September 4, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This is a descriptive pilot report of a single-center, uncontrolled educational intervention—an infectious diseases-themed escape room integrated into clinical rotation curriculum. Learners (n=25) reported high satisfaction and perceived engagement on post-activity Likert surveys, but no objective knowledge gain, clinical competence change, or specialty interest outcomes were measured, and no control or comparator group was included.
Uncontrolled educational pilot with post-activity survey. Medical students and internal medicine residents enrolled in a monthly clinical rotation; included pilot testing by ID faculty, fellows, and medical students. Intervention: Infectious diseases-themed outbreak escape room with eight puzzles aligned to learning objectives covering isolation precautions, zoonoses, empiric antimicrobial selection, laboratory safety, organism identification, molecular diagnostic i…. n = 25. Single institution (not explicitly stated).
All 25 participants agreed or strongly agreed the activity was engaging, fun, and enjoyable All participants reported they would like to participate in similar educational activities in the future Most learners agreed or strongly agreed the activity improved understanding and increased confidence in ID concepts
Eight learning objectives aligned with puzzle design: isolation precautions, zoonoses, antimicrobial selection, laboratory safety, organism identification, molecular diagnostics, sexually transmitted infections, and MRSA-active agents
This work documents feasibility and acceptability of escape room-based learning in ID education but does not provide evidence that the intervention changes knowledge, clinical reasoning, or career interest. Educators considering adoption should view this as a proof-of-concept requiring validation studies that measure objective learning outcomes and long-term impact.
Single-center pilot implementation with small convenience sample (n=25) and only subjective Likert-scale post-activity surveys; no control group, no knowledge assessment, and no objective outcomes reported.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This work documents feasibility and acceptability of escape room-based learning in ID education but does not provide evidence that the intervention changes knowledge, clinical reasoning, or career interest. Educators considering adoption should view this as a proof-of-concept requiring validation studies that measure objective learning outcomes and long-term impact.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Abstract Background Infectious diseases (ID) education faces challenges with learner engagement, confidence, and specialty recruitment. Game-based learning, including educational escape rooms, offers an innovative strategy to increase engagement while reinforcing clinically relevant concepts. We designed an ID-themed escape room integrated into monthly clinical rotation curriculum for medical students and internal medicine residents. Methods General and targeted needs assessment informed eight learning objectives addressing board-relevant topics and common clinical errors: isolation precautions, zoonoses, empiric antimicrobial selection, laboratory safety, organism identification, molecular diagnostic interpretation, sexually transmitted infections, and MRSA-active antimicrobials. The physical outbreak-themed escape room used a hybrid puzzle structure with eight objective-aligned puzzles. Pilot testing by ID faculty, fellows, and medical students informed clarity, flow, and timing. Learners completed post-activity Likert-scale surveys assessing engagement, enjoyment, confidence, and perceived educational value. Results The escape room was implemented in April 2024. Twenty-five learners completed the post-activity survey. All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the activity was engaging, fun, enjoyable, and that they would like to participate in similar educational activities in the future. Most learners agreed or strongly agreed that the activity improved understanding, was a valuable addition to their learning experience, and increased confidence. Conclusions This ID-themed escape room provided an engaging, learner-centered approach to reinforcing clinical reasoning, antimicrobial decision-making, and infectious diseases concepts. Intentional alignment of learning objectives with puzzle design offers a reproducible roadmap for educators seeking to integrate escape rooms into clinical curricula. Future work should evaluate knowledge acquisition, scalability, sustainability, and effects on interest in ID careers.
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