Gaming Habits and Opinions of Brazilian Medical School Faculty and Students: What's Next?

Abstract

This study assessed habits and opinions of medical educators and students from a Brazilian medical school about electronic games for learning or for fun. A questionnaire was sent to Universidade Estadual de Londrina medical school faculty members and undergraduate students. From the 50 faculty members, 20 percent reported regular use of electronic games (at least once a week), spending 1 hour/week with games (median). Among 302 medical students, 37 percent reported regular gaming. Students spent 3 hours/week playing games (median). Male students played games 4.4 times more often than female students. About 90 percent of faculty members and students believed that games are useful for medical education, and >80 percent would like to play games for education of health professionals, but only one-third of students and one-fifth of faculty had already played one of such games. More than 80 percent of faculty would like to use a game for their educational activities. The main obstacles to incorporation of games into medical education, reported by faculty members, were associated with lack of knowledge on available options, lack of time to develop new activities, and lack of resources or institutional support. Playing electronic games is common among medical faculty and students, who both present very positive opinions about games for learning, but the scarcity of available options and the lack of institutional support prevent a more widespread adoption of medical education games.