HB1.2-1.6: Paging Patient X or Other

Quest Line: 
Previous Quest: 
Summary: 

Treat the patient by sending him or her to the correct specialist

Recommendations: 

This is a series of five short quests where players must link patient symptoms to a body system and send the patient to the correct specialist. Patients’ symptoms are assigned to the player randomly so that each player will likely send a patient to a different specialist (ex: Player 1 gets a patient who is vomiting but Player 2 sees a patient who has a high fever). There is only one correct specialist for each set of symptoms, however, in many cases, there could be more than one possible answer. We recommend having a discussion following this quest to let players discuss their choices (see suggestions in Connecting questions below).

Learning Objectives: 
  • Players will be able to identify functions of major body systems
Connecting Questions: 
  1. Have the students discuss how they chose what specialist to have the patient see. Particularly ask about times when there might have been more than one option. Use the list below of all the symptoms in the game to guide the discussion. As you will see, many of the symptoms could be linked to more than one body system and this makes for an excellent discussion.

    Patient Says Probable System
    I feel a burning pain in my chest. I think this is what they call heartburn. Digestive
    I've thrown up 5 times today. I just can't keep any food down. Digestive
    This is kind of personal, but for the last few days my poop has been bright red. Digestive
    [Cough, cough] Sometimes when I cough, bloody phlegm comes up. See? Respiratory
    When I run to catch my pet marmot, it gets really hard to breathe. Fluffy escapes every time! Respiratory
    I've passed out 4 times in the past week. This is getting embarrassing! Circulatory
    The rest of my body is okay but my hands and feet always seem to feel cold. Circulatory
    Look at these bruises all over my legs. There are more too but you've seen enough. Circulatory
    The back of my calf has these little spasms at night and I can't sleep! Muscular
    Ever since I jumped down from a tree branch, my ankle has been swollen and sore. Muscular
    There's a sharp pain shooting up and down my back. Muscular
    I think I have bowlegs - see how my legs are bending out at the knees? Skeletal
    A cow ran into me yesterday and my ribs are killing me, it's hard to keep practicing my gymnastics. Skeletal
    I woke up this morning and couldn't feel my arm! Can't move it either! Nervous
    Every few minutes my shoulders just shrug, all on their own - I can't control it and it's scary! Nervous


  2. As prep for the next quest, ask student what additional questions they would ask the patient or what additional tests they could conduct in order to better determine who the patient should see.
Additional Resources: