Escape the room: Innovative approaches to interprofessional education

Background: Correctly leveling simulation scenarios for health professional students has posed a challenge for simulation educators teaching teamwork and communication skills. In addition, licensed health professionals may come to simulation-based scenarios with a predisposed hierarchy, preventing them from effectively learning the importance of teamwork and communication. Method: Using a simulation center environment for an escape room scenario allows educators to teach about teamwork and communication concepts via “edutainment” (i.e., educational entertainment). Results: Employing escape room-type learning activities is an effective method to expose learners to teamwork and communication concepts without requiring them to use clinical knowledge and can teach teamwork and communication concepts in a unique and exciting way. Conclusion: Escape room scenarios are a novel way to teach interprofessional health students about teamwork and communication. This article describes how a simulation center planned, implemented, and evaluated an escape room scenario with a group of learners.