ArticleCureus2026
Effectiveness of Using a Popular Media Theme in Emergency Medicine Simulation.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction Gamification is a commonly used tool in the educator's kit to enhance engagement. Using the popular media franchise "Star Wars" as a theming and framing device to simulations may also enhance engagement, but there is potential for this same theming to promote disinterest and poor connection to the educational material if the learner is apathetic towards "Star Wars". Methods Eleven residents in a community hospital residency program attended a "Star Wars" themed simulation event. A knowledge-based pre- and post-test was given along with a subjective self-analysis of the resident's perspective on the theming and gamification of the simulation. Cohorts were divided into residents who were "Pro Star Wars" and those who were "Neutral to Star Wars" for comparison on both knowledge and self-analysis. Results On the subjective responses, the "Pro Star Wars" group felt that the theming made the event more engaging, enjoyable, and the learning easier than the "Neutral to Star Wars" group. Regarding gamification, a similar divide occurred with the "Pro Star Wars" group feeling more engaged, enjoying, and learning more easily through gamification. The "Pro Star Wars" group had a mean improvement on the knowledge test of 9%, and the "Neutral to Star Wars" group had a mean improvement of 7.5%, neither being statistically significant. Conclusion Implementation of a themed simulation, with that theme being used to frame simulations, did not have a statistically significant effect on knowledge acquisition. However, there is evidence of a subjective effect on enjoyment and engagement with learning if the learner does not resonate with the chosen theme. With mounting evidence on the positive utility of gamification and interactive learning, popular media theming is bound to be integrated into educational events. Careful design of these events needs to be done to ensure learners are not isolated and left behind.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.