The escape room experience: Exploring new ways to deliver interprofessional education

Interprofessional education is a key component of preparing health professional students to become collaborative practice-ready graduates. In the design and delivery of activities, educators seek ways to enhance student participation and learning with the goal of developing students’ collaborative practice capabilities. Traditionally, learning formats have largely maintained a clinical focus to enable students to learn with, from and about each other’s roles as health professionals. In recent years, escape rooms have emerged as an innovative teaching approach within interprofessional education. Utilising gamification, escape rooms require students to work collaboratively, employing teamwork, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills to ‘escape’ a set scenario. This article explores our experience of using escape rooms as an interprofessional education strategy. Additionally, we report on trialling a nonclinical focus within the activity as an alternative means of educating students for collaborative practice.