Explaining the health system in a practical way – the use of a simulation game in medical sociology teaching

Objective: A simulation game is a valuable method for conveying teaching content in a practical way. The aim was to design a teaching module for medical sociology on the subject of “The German health care system” which would convey the contents and connections to the students in a practical way using a simulation game. Project description: In addition to the development of scenarios for the simulation game, role cards for various institutions of the health care system were also produced as a result. The students were given the opportunity beforehand to work on theoretical content regarding the German health care system online (the “flipped classroom method”). In the 90-minute face-to-face event the simulation game was played, followed by a feedback session. The initial impressions of the students were collected. Results: In the 2022 summer semester, a total of 185 students from the 4^th pre-clinical semester took part in the seminar. The students were divided into twelve seminars. One scenario was worked on per seminar. The simulation game contributed to a better understanding of the health care system. The students were generally very satisfied with this type of knowledge transfer and thought that this method might well be integ-rated into teaching in the future. Conclusion: Communicating the health care system through a simulation game is evidently suitable for explaining clearly complex issues and presenting the various interests of the individual institutions. In addition, a simulation game stimulates critical debate and can contribute to im-parting theoretical content in teaching medical sociology in a practical way.