Simulcast

This month Ben and Vic review a landmark paper on fidelity in simulation -   Hamstra S, Brydges R, Hatala R et al. Reconsidering Fidelity in Simulation-Based Training. Academic Medicine 2014;89:387-392.  – and attempt to summarise the excellent discussion this month. Reconsidering our terminology and renewing our focus on learning tasks were recurring themes.    Our next paper continues in in the theme - Is that realistic? The development of a realism assessment questionnaire and its application in appraising three simulators for a gynaecology procedure, by Wilson et al. in Advances in Sim 2018  We then took a brief look at two other papers – considering virtual reality simulation for stress inoculation training for resuscitation team leaders, and a challenging look at adverse event analysis and psychological safety in simulation faculty development.  For March – join the discussion about partnering with consumers in developing “paediatric patient-focused and family-focused simulations”  Come and join th

Welcome back to Simulcast Journal Club for 2021.   This month Ben and Vic review 3 papers of interest – more on COVID sim, but this time involving healthcare consumer engagement, a description of Peer assisted learning in medical student simulation , and a systematic review of simulated based team training in EM and acute case.  We also invited Eve Purdy along for some comments on the last of those.  The papers…  Christodoulides N, Duggan WP, Dalrymple KR. COVID-SIM: building testing capacity through public engagement with healthcare simulation. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning 2021;7:52-53.  Nunnink L, Thompson A, Alsaba N, et al. Peer-assisted learning in simulation-based medical education: a mixed-methods exploratory study. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning Published Online First: 16 December 2020. doi: 10.1136/bmjstel-2020-000645  Weile, J., Nebsbjerg, M.A., Ovesen, S.H. et al. Simulation-based team training in time-critical clinical presentations in emergency medicine an

This month Ben ad Vic were joined by Steph Barwick from Mater education. We discussed  Making the invisible visible: a place for utilizing activity theory within in situ simulation to drive healthcare organizational development?  by Gerry Gormley and the team from Queens University Belfast. It’s a deep theoretical dive, but great food for thought. We weren’t sure we did the article justice, so Gerry himself kindly sent us his thoughts and they’re in the podcast as well !  We also reviewed two other papers – one looking at the link between self efficacy and observed performance in neonatal resuscitation, and another exploring the construct of psychological safety in medical education. Safe or soft?   Thanks for another great year of journal club and looking forward to next year!  Happy holidays   

Mentors can be powerful influences on our careers – in simulation and more broadly. In this episode Vic talks with Resa E Lewiss and Adaira Landry about mentors and mentoring – why and how. The pandemic has also highlighted We reflect on some thoughtful personal stories of mentoring from three friends of Simulcast – Gabe Reedy, Sonia Twigg and Kari White. For more thoughts on the topic – also check our Resa and Adaira’s article in Harvard Business Review – What efficient mentorship looks like 

How can social media activities support simulation journals to publish, disseminate and critique simulation-based research and commentary? What does a social media editor at a healthcare simulation journal do?   In this episode Vic speaks with Sandra Viggers (@StarSkaterDk) and Jessica Stokes-Parish (@j_stokesparish) about their roles as social media editors for Advances in Simulation and BMJ STEL. (Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning). They offer us insights relevant for researchers, educators and as consumers of social media content.  For more on the virtual community of practice in simulation check out our Simulcast paper from earlier in the year  Happy listening. 

This month we discussed Kerrey et al. Developing a Profile of Procedural Expertise: A Simulation Study of Tracheal Intubation Using 3-Dimensional Motion Capture.    Ben and Vic summarised the article and online discussion, and took a deep dive into procedural skills simulation.  We reviewed a paper by the PEARL group at Stanford on 3D printed simulator for closed reduction of distal radius fractures, demonstrating the integration of low cost procedural skills simulation with sound educational frameworks.  We then reviewed two papers from the TRUST study - Trauma Resuscitation Using in situ Simulation Team Training (TRUST) study: latent safety threat evaluation using framework analysis and video review - from the Petrosoniak group in Toronto. The related paper is focused on the outcomes from debriefing during the TRuST study  - Latent safety threat identification during in situ simulation debriefing: a qualitative analysis  And finally – Ben gave us an invitation for the November Journal Club. Making the i

In this episode Vic is joined by Robbie Llyod and Alex Jolly to talk about Project Wingman – an insitu simulation program in the UK that involves airline pilots as co-debriefers and coaches.  Robbie is an emergency medicine senior trainee and fellow podcaster (check out Pondermed) who is undertaking a year as an Education Fellow at the Whittington hospital  . Captain Alex Jolly is an airline pilot who is UK based. The program has brought marvellous insights to the clinicians in terms of teamwork behaviours and shaping culture. It emerged from the @_ProjectWingman initiative which involves airline crew coming together to support the well-being of frontline NHS staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. They suggest healthcare simulation educators need to ‘just do it’, learn as we go, and celebrate the fresh perspectives from outside our own world.  Happy listening   

Welcome to the first episode of Simulation 101 – and what better place to start than the pre-brief!   Have you ever been involved in a simulation where you didn’t really know what to do? Had the awkward feeling where you didn’t know what was ‘real’ or what was allowed?   In this episode we chat with Dr Warwick Isaacson, emergency physician and education fellow on the Gold Coast about the pre-brief. We delve into why he does a pre-brief, what his looks like and how he went about improving his pre-briefing skills. Listen for some practical strategies to improve your next simulation!     Some useful resources he refers to within the episode are listed below:     Rudolph JW, Raemer DB, Simon R. Establishing a safe container for learning in simulation: the role of the presimulation briefing. Simul Healthc. 2014 Dec;9(6):339-49. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000047. PMID: 25188485.       

This month we discussed Calhoun, Aaron W. Pian-Smith, May. Shah, Anjan et. al. Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Deception in Simulation, Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare: August 2020 - Volume 15 - Issue 4 - p 282-288  We were also joined by Ian Summers, Director of Monash Simulation, who contributed as our expert commentator this month.  Ben and Vic summarised the article and online discussion, and our trio then went deep on the definition of deception, and the concept of ‘fair’ in simulation design, drawing on the article and personal experience.  And we reviewed 2 extra papers   Lin Y, Hecker K, Cheng A, et al. Cost-effectiveness analysis of workplace-based distributed cardiopulmonary resuscitation training versus conventional annual basic life support training BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning Published Online First: 29 September 2020  Caners, K., Baylis, J., Heyd, C., & Chan, T. (2020). Sharing is caring: How EM Sim Cases (EMSimC

Welcome to the new series Simulcast 101 – in this episode Jess @j_stokesparish introduces you to the new series exploring the basics of simulation in bite-sized snippets. She is joined by Dr Charlotte Alexander @_CharAlexander, emergency medicine resident/registrar who is putting in the grunt work behind project. Hear about how it will work, what you can expect to hear about and who some of the guests will be! And be sure to let us know what topics you want to cover!

This month we discussed “Leung, J.S., Brar, M., Eltorki, M. et al. Development of an in situ simulation-based continuing professional development curriculum in pediatric emergency medicine. Adv Simul 5, 12 (2020).  Ben and I recap on the paper and the online discussion, Including the expert contributions from James Leung, the first author  An we reviewed 3 extra papers – two looking at different ways healthcare simulation has been adapted to deal with the pandemic.  Dubé, M., Kaba, A., Cronin, T. et al. COVID-19 pandemic preparation: using simulation for systems-based learning to prepare the largest healthcare workforce and system in Canada. Adv Simul 5, 22 (2020).  Cheng, A., Kolbe, M., Grant, V. et al. A practical guide to virtual debriefings: communities of inquiry perspective. Adv Simul 5, 18 (2020).    And one looking at how bomb defusal can help interprofessional learning !  Tidbury L, Jarvis K, Bridge P. Initial evaluation of a virtual reality bomb-defusing simulator for development of undergrad

This episode is a recording of Ben Symon’s APLS PAC 2019 (Advanced Paediatric Life Support Paediatric Acute Care Conference) in Perth on ‘Simulation Self Sabotage’.   Through exploring 4 journal articles, Ben shares reflections on the negative impacts we can have as sim educators on our intended learning outcomes and the ways in which we unintentionally shoot our educational goals in the foot.  Many thanks to APLS, who were kind enough to give their recording to Simulcast to share with our listeners.  References :   1. Purdy E, Alexander C, Caughley M et al. Identifying and Transmitting the Culture of Emergency Medicine Through Simulation. AEM Education and Training 2019;3:118-128. doi:10.1002/aet2.10325    2. Fraser K, Meguerdichian M, Haws J et al. Cognitive Load Theory for debriefing simulations: implications for faculty development. Advances in Simulation 2018;3. doi:10.1186/s41077-018-0086-1    3. Roussin C, Weinstock P. SimZones. Academic Medicine 2017;92:1114-1120. doi:10.1097/acm.00000000000017

  This month we discussed “How to include medical students in your healthcare simulation centre workforce” by Viggers et. Al. We have already recorded a wonderful episode with Sandra on this paper that can be found here….  Ben and I recap on the paper and the online discussion, as well as the expert opinion from two medical students undertaking their simulation-based education rotation at present.  We also reviewed 4 extra papers – one focused on reopening simulation facilities in the COVID era:-   Ingrassia, P.L., Capogna, G., Diaz-Navarro, C. et al. COVID-19 crisis, safe reopening of simulation centres and the new normal: food for thought. Adv Simul 5, 13 (2020).   and three papers with a with a simulated patient methodology theme: -  Smith CM, Sokoloff LG, Alsaba N. Collaborative framework for working with older simulated participants (SP). BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning Published Online First: 16 June 2020. ( and this one makes reference to the ASPE Standards of Best practice that c

In this latest episode in our collaboration with Advances in Simulation, Vic speaks with Sandra Viggers (@StarSkaterDk) about her recent paper and the program she describes for involving medial student sin the simulation mission at her institution in Copenhagen.  We were joined by South African anaesthetist Rowan Duys (@HealthThink) and discuss the recruitment, roles and professional development and training opportunities available for students. We ended up talking about broader issues related to the positioning of medical students in health services, and sandra offered some tips about how to get started.    vb 

This month’s paper was Lack of Diversity in Simulation Technology  by Conigliaro et al from Simulation in Healthcare. Vic and Ben were joined by Jess and our special guest Dr Karanjot Lall (@KaranjotLall) We spoke about the paper’s findings – the predominance of white skinned mannikins in advertising materials – and how simulation might instead be able to contribute to antiracism and better representation of traditionally marginalised groups. We also highlighted Debra’s Nestel’s recent SESAM keynote on a similar topic and recommend this as additional viewing !

The COVID intubation box, a hot topic on social media – is it safe or effective?     Jessica (not Jesse…) hosts her first podcast with guests Jonathan Begley, Albert Chan and Vic Brazil exploring a new paper in Anaesthesia – An aerosol box for intubation in COVID-19 patients: an in-situ simulation crossover study.      We cover why they conducted the study, the outcomes, the use of simulation and future direction. We also discussed some interesting topics like the MacGuyver Bias and the article that Albert wrote in Life in The Fast Lane about the intubation box.     MacGuyver Bias Article - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12630-019-01361-4  Albert’s Life in the Fast Lane Article - https://litfl.com/should-we-use-an-aerosol-box-for-intubation/  

  Ben and Vic discuss the paper of the month(s) - Cheng, A et al  A Conceptual Framework for the Development of Debriefing Skills.  - and attempt to summarise the brilliant discussion from the blog comments.  We discuss the elements of ‘good debriefing’, reflect on the value of having a conceptual framework for debriefing skill development, and take a deeper dive into the nature of ‘adaptive expertise’. We talk about Kris Krogh’s practice development triangle and draw on the wisdom of Booker’s rule of three and Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette. We agree to embrace the ‘rich palette’ of debriefing skills, but encourage first learning the rules about how to make purple…….    

Vic spoke with (Dr) Jess Stokes-Parish and Steph Barwick about the ‘Women in Simulation’ Initiative within Simulation Australasia. Diversity is important in professional communities and Steph and Jess explained a bit about the background to this initiative, the work so far and how this can positively influence policy and support diversity within simulation.  If you’re interested in the upcoming webinar series, find out more info or register here https://my.simaust.com/events - this Masterclass Series will run on June 4, June 18 and July 2 covering building confidence, kicking imposter syndrome to the curb and building a personal brand.   And the link to the FB page https://www.facebook.com/groups/285101322099769  

Can simulation be ‘too real’? Can this ‘hyper-reality’ actually have negative impacts on learning?  Vic takes a deep breath and dives into theory with the team from Queens University Belfast, including Jenny Johnston, Helen Reid and Gerry Gormley. We discuss their recent Medical Education article - Into the uncanny valley: simulation versus simulacrum?   Eve Purdy joined the chat to offer her unique anthropological perspectives.  If you’ve ever felt slightly uncomfortable with OSCEs or breaking bad news to a plastic mannequin, this might help you understand why….. 

This month Ben and Vic discuss 4 papers, in a bit of a variation to our usual format.  In the first paper, the authors compare VR and ‘live’ team-based simulation for interprofessional student groups, and suggest these modalities have the same outcome, as measured by performance on a team communication assessment. Next we discuss Natarajah and colleagues’ brilliant work in Myanmar, using a low cost simulator for training to use air enemas in paediatric intussusception, with measurably improved patient outcomes.  In our third paper, Brown and colleagues offers a new approach to debriefing large groups, such as might be needed in large scale trauma simulations - offer us ‘simultaneous successive debriefing’.  And finally – we discuss Laura Rock’s BMJ Opinion piece - Don’t answer feelings with facts.  Guidance for our conversations in the clinical and simulation contexts, and well beyond.  Join the conversation for next month, when we pick up the March JC paper and review. Leave your comments and thoughts he