Curriculum

Our curriculum for the one-year fellowship seeks to develop physicians into experts, leaders and scholars in the field of simulation-based medical education. Our curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of healthcare simulation, curriculum development, simulation tools and technology, learner assessment using simulation, simulation research and simulation program administration.

  • Fundamentals of Healthcare Simulation
    • History of simulation in medical education
    • Simulation taxonomy
    • Professional organizations
      • Society for Simulation in Healthcare
      • Other simulation organizations (eg. SAEM Simulation Academy)
    • Accreditation standards
    • Settings for simulation events: in-situ simulations, mobile simulations, disaster drills & field exercises, simulation centers
    • The simulation & medical education literature
    • Networks, alliances, & collaboratives
  • Medical Education
    • Adult learning theory, Motivational theory, & experiential learning
    • Levels of competence—novice, competency, mastery, expertise
    • Effective learning environments
    • Educational methods in medicine
    • Principles of curriculum design
      • Adapting curriculum to learner level
      • Simulation for cognitive skills
      • Simulation for technical skills
      • Simulation in the basic sciences curriculum
      • Specialty-specific simulations
    • Procedure training with simulation
      • Task analysis
      • Checklist design
    • Case simulation & scenario design
    • OSCE development
    • Feedback techniques
    • Briefing, Debriefing & facilitation—theory & technique
      • Principles & techniques of self-reflective and guided learning
      • Problems & solutions during debriefing sessions
      • Debriefer/facilitator assessment
    • Performance assessment with simulation—formative & summative
      • Rating scales & assessment instruments—checklists vs. global assessments
      • Milestones Assessment project
      • Reliability & validity; calibration of raters
      • High-stakes assessment and certification
    • Learner needs assessment
    • Diagnosing and assisting the ‘challenging’ learner
    • Inter-professional education & teamwork skills
    • Critical event management; cognitive load, decision-making & communication skills under time constraints and other stressors
    • Medical decision-making, clinical reasoning, & cognitive bias 
    • Human error in medicine, patient safety initiatives, and continuous quality improvement programs with simulation; cognitive autopsies
    • Systems modeling
    • Faculty development in simulation
    • Personal presentation skills
    • Creating instructional videos
    • Computer-assisted instruction, distance learning, & asynchronous learning
    • Content of the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator Examination
    • Mentorship skills
  • Operations, Tools and Technology
    • Standardized patients
    • Task trainers—synthetic and organic
    • Hybrid simulations (human + task trainer)
    • Mannequins—high, intermediate, and low fidelity
      • Manual operation
      • Flowcharting & programming to automate simulations
      • Troubleshooting, managing equipment failure, and basic repair
      • Commercial vendors
    • Creating novel task trainer models
    • Realism & stagecraft
    • Moulage, props, costumes, images, and other simulation enhancements
    • Embedded simulated persons (actors, confederates), scripting & training
    • Basics of audiovisual technology—hardware set-up & operation
    • Software management systems (ie. EMS/SimIQ)
    • Virtual simulators & environments
  • Administration
    • Organizational theory
    • Strategic planning 
    • Operations
    • Data management
    • Finances, funding, fee structures, & budgets
    • Meeting management
    • Grant writing & grantsmanship
    • Inventory management
    • Personnel management; job descriptions & roles
    • Management of a standardized training program
    • Event scheduling methods
    • Programmatic evaluation
      • Creating & analyzing feedback forms
    • Evaluation of educational outcomes
    • Management and leadership skills
    • Facility and infrastructure design
    • Time & space analysis
    • Marketing
    • Developing business plans for profit-based simulation programs
  • Scientific Inquiry
    • Principles of education research
    • Study design
    • Basic biostatistics
    • Scientific & academic writing
    • Presentation & publication
    • Quantitative & qualitative research
  • Outcomes

    Trainees in the Simulation Fellowship are expected to complete the following:

    • Design, program, test, and implement multiple case-based simulation scenarios for GME, UME, and/or CE learners;
    • Develop a procedure workshop;
    • Assist residency programs incorporate simulation-based training into their curriculum;
    • Design and implement a research project or scholarly contribution to the field of healthcare simulation;
    • Demonstrate effective teaching skills using simulation;
    • Deliver a presentation to faculty or residents on a simulation topic;
    • Develop a portfolio & career development plan;
    • Develop initial relationships with leading experts in the field of medical simulation;
    • Attend the annual International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare;
    • Attend one, additional simulation or education conference (within budget; eg. Comprehensive Instructor Workshop in Medical Simulation at the Harvard Center, WISER conference, Laerdal Sun Conference, Sim Wars event, or “Base Camp” for Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellows, or ACEP Teaching Fellowship).

Simulation Fellowship Faculty