#1: Getting started in sim

Disclaimer: This post will hopefully provide you with important points to consider but cannot be all-encompassing. These are general tips rather than palliative care simulation-specific tips.

 

Here are 5 steps to getting started in simulation...

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1. Be a participant on a simulation course

​It is helpful to have sought out some experience of simulation as a participant first, prior to becoming a faculty member. You'll need no prior reading for this but will learn a lot about what a successful course looks like. It gives you insight into how stressed your learners might feel and how important it is that you create a safe environment for them to learn. You'll also see how different faculty members might facilitate a discussion to ensure there are generalisable learning points for all attending.

 

2. Do some pre-reading about simulation as a teaching modality

This will give you some grounding in educational theory and simulation basics.

Can you answer these questions?

• What is simulation? How is it different to clinical skills or procedures teaching?

• What are human factors? Can you name some? 

• What is fidelity in simulation?

• What is psychological safety? Why is it important?

• What is simulation debriefing? Can you name a commonly used debriefing model?

You will find some answers to these questions in the "Further reading" section of our site.

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3. Attend a Sim Faculty, Human Factors or Debriefing Skills Course

We strongly recommend you attend a sim faculty development course. A good course will provide you with:

• some educational theory behind simulation,

• explain what human factors are and how they are relevant to clinical practice, 

• explain what psychological safety is, how to create and maintain it and why it is essential for all sim faculty to be aware of it

• a model for debriefing (with some hands-on practice too).

Where do I find a course?

Often these are run by large teaching hospitals in a high fidelity sim lab, sometimes for a fee for externals to attend. Contact your local Postgraduate Medical Education Department or Sim Centre to find out more. For those in London, the London Sim Network keep a list of local courses: https://uclpartners.com/london-simulation-network/faculty-development/

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4. Shadow faculty members on a local simulation course

​It doesn't have to be a palliative care simulation course, it can be ANY sim course (high fidelity, low fidelity, in situ, undergraduate, postgraduate etc etc). There will be commonality in how the faculty members debrief the group and how they conduct their sim course in general. Refer to the debriefing model during the course and ask questions!

 

5. Get hands on experience with sim debriefing

This will depend on what opportunities exist in your local area. For some, it is possible to obtain a simulation fellow post and practice sim debriefing on all kinds of courses for an entire year! For others, it might be the experience given during the faculty development course you attended. It's helpful to have had some practice prior to running your own course, if you can. It's the best way to get more comfortable with all those awkward situations that might occur e.g. long silences, quiet groups, or overly loud attendees. The more practice the better!

 

We hope this helped!

 

Written by T Tran, Sept 2024