Educational escape rooms in pharmacy education: A narrative review

Background: The pharmacy profession has evolved tremendously, assuming important roles in patient care and often working in multidisciplinary healthcare teams. Educational escape rooms are team-based games delivered in active learning environments that address educational objectives by developing necessary competencies and skills for future pharmacists. Methods: This narrative review synthesises current practices and outcomes of educational escape rooms in pharmacy education with the primary aim of helping educators in developing and implementing escape room games. A database search of Web of Knowledge, Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar identified 1,057 studies. Results: After article screening, twenty studies were included. The majority of the studies (85%) reported the development of escape room games for pharmacy practice and professional development. Conclusion: Educational escape rooms were positively perceived by students, enhancing knowledge and serving as a platform to foster teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills while applying clinical skills deemed essential in producing competent pharmacists in the 21st century.