Medical education today is centered on active learning. Application exercises offer a powerful way to achieve this. Engaging learners in clinical reasoning and diagnostic thinking requires more than didactic instruction—providing hands-on, integrative, game-based activities with clinically relevant strategies make learning both fun and effective. This focus session introduces a collaborative application exercise using a matching game format where clinical presentations are paired with laboratory findings while integrating subject questions exploring pathophysiology. The presenter will first demonstrate a real-world matching game to showcase how the activity works in practice. Following this, they will work in small groups to design their own lab-clinical matching games tailored to their educational context. This session will provide educators with a practical, adaptable tool to promote active learning in pre-clinical or clinical settings. Attendees will leave with a sample activity and ideas for implementation in small or large group environments.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the value of application exercises and game-based learning in fostering active engagement, clinical reasoning, and integration of foundational science in medical education.
• Analyze a real-world sample lab-clinical matching game to understand its structure, content, and instructional purpose.
• Design a matching game activity that pairs clinical presentations with corresponding laboratory findings and incorporates questions on pathophysiology or related basic science concepts.
• Identify strategies to adapt the format for different learner levels and instructional settings.