The use of theatre in medical education in the emergency cases school: an appealing and widely accessible way of learning.

Christodoulos Keskinis,Georgios Tsoulfas,Michail Sideris,Vasileios Bafitis,Panagiota Karailidou,Dimitrios Stakos,Christina Pagonidou,Alexandros Rampotas,Panteleimon Pantelidis

doi:10.1007/s40037-017-0350-4

Abstract

IntroductionTheatre models in medical education have been used worldwide in order to train medical students and graduates in managing various situations. However, the literature reports little regarding its appeal to trainees. We conducted a medical seminar, entitled Emergency Cases School, which employed such techniques. Actors simulated the actions of doctors and patients involved in various emergency cases, in front of a large audience, in a specially modified theatre hall which resembled the emergency room environment.MethodsA total of 303 undergraduate medical students participated in the seminar. The audience evaluated the course with the DREEM questionnaire, along with two extra questions: Q1. ‘Do you think that the course will prove itself beneficial to your clinical skills?’ and Q2. ‘Would you suggest the course to another student?’, in a 0–4 scoring scale. Of the attendees, 281 (92.7%) answered the questionnaire.ResultsThe overall DREEM score was 140.32 (±23.39) out of 150, which is interpreted as ‘More positive than negative’. The results of Q1 and Q2 were 3.07 (±0.78) and 3.65 (±0.61), respectively.DiscussionThe Emergency Cases School received positive feedback as a theatre educational tool, targeted to a large audience. With the advantage of the realistic setting of an emergency room, along with its low-budget needs, this course model could function as a creative alternative of the more traditional lecturing teaching techniques.

Highlights

Theatre models in medical education have been used worldwide in order to train medical students and graduates in managing various situations
This study concludes that medical students have a generally positive perception of the learning environment provided with the education methods employed in the Emergency Cases School
The scores indicate the sense of satisfaction of the students with this theatreplay seminar

Summary

Introduction

Theatre models in medical education have been used worldwide in order to train medical students and graduates in managing various situations. Theatre techniques seem to be effective and increasingly used as interactive teaching tools in undergraduate medical education [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] This simulation method of learning does enhance the students’ comprehension of the doctor-patient relationship, but it improves their communicational skills and gives them the ability to engage more with the patient [4,5,6,7,8, 13,14,15,16]. Theatre teaching as an educational model has numerous advantages in education, which have been described in literature, the interactive educational environment it provides from the stage, as well as its appeal to the audience, have not been evaluated [1]

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