(141) Evaluating Impact of Pharmacy Educational Video Game on Middle School Students: A Quality Assurance Review

Objective : The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the usefulness of educational video games on the understanding of pharmacy for middle school students.

Methods: In November 2022, the pharmacy video game “A Puzzling Prescription” was played by 20 middle school students in sixth grade at the Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy in Pittsburgh, PA as a quality assurance initiative to measure the video game's efficacy and impact. A short, anonymous survey was conducted with the students before and after playing the game to assess knowledge of a pharmacist’s roles and responsibility. The students played the video game for approximately 45 minutes, which included a student-pharmacist facilitated introduction to pharmacy, survey, and gameplay.

Results: Of the 20 middle school students, when asked about their knowledge of pharmacy, there were significant changes in responses before and after gameplay. The amount of “Not Very Well” and “Somewhat Well” responses decreased by 83% and 72% respectively, while other responses including the “Well”, “Fairly Well”, and “Very Well” all increased by 133%, 0%, and 200% respectively. When asked before gameplay “Do pharmacists use technology?” and “Have you ever gone to pick up medicine at a pharmacy?”, all 100% of the students selected yes for both questions. Additionally, when the students were asked about their overall experience playing the video game, 83% indicated their enjoyment about the learning experience.

Conclusions: The results gathered from the educational pharmacy video game, “A Puzzling Prescription”, indicate that the participating middle school students showed an increase in knowledge surrounding pharmacy. These promising results call for more outreach and scaling of gameplay relating to a younger audience to increase interest and awareness in pharmacy.