(HealthNewsDigest.com) - As part of the push to develop new and better ways of teaching, second-year medical students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center are playing a video game to learn about gout, a painful disease that is poorly managed.

"We found about half of the students don't like sitting in lectures," said Amy Cannella, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at UNMC. "They like to view them online at double speed or half speed. They also study outside of the classroom then come together in small groups and have discussions. This is similar to the teaching trend called ‘flipped classroom.' "

The "retro" video game was developed through a grant collaboration with the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The idea is to engage students in a fun way to better help them understand and more effectively treat gout. Currently the game is optional for students.

"Gout is a bad disease and it's terribly managed. It affects 4 to 5 percent of the population," Dr. Cannella said. "If we can impress basic principles of gout management on students who may become primary care practitioners, they can make a difference with this disease. Many primary care practitioners take care of gout patients without specialty training."

The faculty polled students on what they thought about the game. Though it didn't show the learning outcomes were any better, students said they enjoyed learning the subject material more than in a traditional format. 

In the game, students and their patients ride a dune buggy to navigate various landscapes through different aspects of the disease, symptoms and treatment.

"There are high stakes," Dr. Cannella said. "Players must avoid hazards such as alcohol, which increase their risk of gout, and correctly answer questions about the disease."

Tate Johnson, UNMC medical student, said he enjoyed the game. "Since it's a unique and fun learning tool, it makes it easier to think back to the game and recall the information I learned. I think providing simple alternative memory tools like this is a really great way to emphasize important information."

Anyone interested in learning about gout can download and play the game athttp://gout.ist.unomaha.edu/

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