Help! I'm trapped in the brain—An escape room to review head and neck anatomy

The popularity of escape rooms as a teaching tool in medical education has grown in recent years due to their ability to increase knowledge, self-confidence, and promote team-based skills. To increase efficacy in learning head and neck anatomy, a virtual escape room was built and employed as a review with a Health Professions Anatomy course. The concept was that students were trapped within the brain and had to determine the correct cranial nerve exit. One hundred thirty-nine students participated in a pre-post single-arm pilot. There was a significant difference (p < 0.01) in the overall pretest score (55.08%) compared with the posttest (70.17%). On the post-activity survey, 82.1% of students agreed/strongly agreed that the activity was a productive use of time; 90.5% thought it was an effective team-building activity; 96.8% thought it encouraged the use of communication and collaborative skills; 66.32% felt more confident about the material after the activity; 92.6% said it helped expose gaps in knowledge; and 75.8% planned to play the escape room again as a review for their exam. Overall, the use of a virtual escape room was an effective mechanism to increase students' knowledge and confidence related to anatomy and is an active learning strategy that encourages teamwork and communication skills.