Medical students' evaluation by serious game in the era of Covid-19 infection.

Introduction: Simulation using serious games (SG) has emerged in the field of training and assessment of medical students.

Aim: to compare the results of medical students' evaluation by virtual simulation using online SG and clinical case-based multiple-choice questions (MCQ), and to assess the degree of satisfaction with these two evaluation methods.

Methods: Medical students from the same level of study participated in this study. SG group had an evaluation by SG dealing with "diagnosis and management of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). MCQ group was evaluated by clinical case-based MCQ having the same topic as SG group. Results of the two groups were compared. A satisfaction questionnaire was filled out by the two groups. The satisfaction degree was compared between the two groups.

Results: A total of 64 medical students (G1:31 and G2: 33) were enrolled. Thirty learners (96.8%) in SG group obtained a total score ≥ 50% versus 69.7% in clinical case-based MCQ group (p = 0.004). The full score was obtained by three learners in SG group; however, no student scored 100% in clinical case-based MCQ group (p = 0.027). Medical evaluation using SG was reported to be more innovative, fun, and realistic compared to evaluation by clinical case-based MCQ.

Conclusion: Simulation by SG could be an innovative and effective method in evaluating medical students.