Abstract

Introduction: Gamification and serious games are novel educational methods that employ game design elements and principles to foster active learning. This paper presents a serious gaming educational method for medical students that can serve as a template for medical science courses.
Materials & Methods: This study used serious games with a story design strategy. During the game stages, students investigated the prevalence of diseases, identified risk factors, and prevention and treatment strategies. The satisfaction and effectiveness of the method were examined from the students' perspective, as well as the pre-test and post-test after a one-week interval. The scores were compared in SPSS25 software with the Wilcoxon test.

Results: In the study of learning, the comparison of scores showed a significant difference, such that the median (interquartile range) of the pre-test scores changed from 1.5 (0.9) to 7.2 (3) in the post-test (P<0.001). This method created more motivation and interest in students. High to very high satisfaction with the educational method was expressed in 75% of students, and high to very high effectiveness in learning was expressed in 72% of students.
Conclusion: The use of serious games in medical education can make learning an attractive, effective, and practical process for medical students. The model presented in this article can be used in similar courses.