{"id":218536,"date":"2025-07-11T09:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=218536"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:39:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:39:23","slug":"public-health-ai-enhanced-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/07\/11\/public-health-ai-enhanced-game\/","title":{"rendered":"AI<\/abbr>-enhanced game prepares public health students for global challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"card
Global Health Trade Summit<\/em> card game created using AI<\/abbr>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An innovative classroom activity that uses artificial intelligence (AI<\/abbr>) tools plus a card game is teaching University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa public health students how international trade and resource management affect population health. <\/p>\n

Designed as an engaging trading card simulation for PH<\/abbr> 203: Introduction to Global Health, the Global Health Trade Summit<\/em> allows Department of Public Health Sciences<\/a> (DPHS<\/abbr>) students to represent countries in a global summit, managing health-related resources and navigating trade negotiations, especially during real-world health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Instructor Uday “AJ” Patil created the activity using AI<\/abbr> tools such as ChatGPT. The game features trading cards with realistic imagery and historical economic data, offering a highly interactive way to understand global health systems. <\/p>\n

Real-world challenges through gameplay<\/h2>\n

In the game, students play through several rounds of international trade, culminating in a pandemic scenario where access to vaccines, personal protective equipment (PPE<\/abbr>), and expertise becomes increasingly limited. <\/p>\n

\"students
Students exchange cards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“During the pandemic round, students quickly realized that they needed to store up on medicines, vaccines, PPE<\/abbr>, lab and imaging technology and expertise\u2014and for those representing low- and middle-income countries, there was a large price tag or a long wait time, leading to devastating effects,” said Patil.<\/p>\n

The activity aligns with Council on Education for Public Health standards, reinforcing essential skills such as ethical decision-making, collaboration and leadership. Early student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many describing the game as an eye-opening experience.<\/p>\n

The game was first introduced in fall 2024, enhanced with additional elements in spring 2025 and is scheduled to return to the curriculum in fall 2025.<\/p>\n

\"students<\/p>\n

Patil and his colleagues are now exploring the use of board and video games to simulate other public health scenarios, including disease outbreaks and migrant health. <\/p>\n

“At a minimum, instructors should find opportunities to teach AI<\/abbr> literacy because it\u2019s not only a marketable skill but also an essential ability in an increasing number of jobs,” Patil said. “My dream is for all faculty to consider integrating AI<\/abbr> tools into their teaching, equipping students to solve formidable interdisciplinary problems.” <\/p>\n

Patil developed the project with support from recent Master of Social Work graduate Melissa Terada and guidance from Associate Professor Denise Nelson-Hurwitz.<\/p>\n

DPHS<\/abbr> is housed in the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Public Health Sciences used an AI<\/abbr>-powered simulation game to teach students about global health and pandemic response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1602,241,449,596,9],"class_list":["post-218536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-ai","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218536"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218567,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218536\/revisions\/218567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}