Serious gaming as a platform for interprofessional education about the medication process: A curricular resource for students of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Medication errors are one of the most prominent causes of preventable medical harm leading to hospitalization or prolonged hospital stay. While delivering interprofessional education to combat these errors is crucial, organizing education which is engaging and interactive is challenging due to the logistical barriers. We therefore developed an interprofessional module in the Erasmus + funded “Preventing Risks of Pharmacotherapy: TEAching Multidisciplinary is the key” (PReP-TEAM) project, where serious gaming forms the core of the education. Serious gaming offers an interactive platform for students to engage in interprofessional collaboration accessible via a mobile device. Our target audience consists of medical, pharmacy, and nursing students in the final and penultimate years of their training. This module is delivered at four centers in the Netherlands, France, and Norway. We aimed to educate on the roles and responsibilities of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses in the medication process, leading causes for medication errors, and the importance of interprofessional collaboration in pharmacotherapeutic care. Students prepared for the module with an e-learning on pharmacotherapy. The synchronous sessions started with small group discussions on the division of roles and responsibilities, followed by break-out sessions in which students treated a virtual patient in the mobile application TeamUp! . The session was concluded with a faculty-led large group debrief and discussion on the barriers and facilitators to interprofessional collaboration. Student outcomes were measured using the Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Scale (ICCAS). The education was evaluated using a self-devised evaluation survey and focus-group interviews. Students showed improvements regarding interprofessional collaboration in their responses to the ICCAS and were enthusiastic about the interactive learning experience.
Institutions: Erasmus MC, University of Oslo, Reinier de Graaf Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Inserm, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Limoges, Pharmacologie & Transplantation, Université de Limoges, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail, CIC Rennes, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, Université de Rennes
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,820
Funder: Erasmus+
OpenAlex ID: W7172425653