Healthcare education is a rapidly changing environment, especially in the simulation field. While simulation in medical education has evolved significantly over the years, it has undeniably solidified its place as a cornerstone in shaping the next generation of healthcare practitioners and, in turn, elevating the quality of patient care.
From a pragmatic perspective, the enduring success of simulation-based learning is driven by its tangible impact on healthcare outcomes. It’s not merely an simulation educational tool but a transformative force that molds healthcare professionals to be more adept, compassionate, and skilled.
In the high-stakes world of healthcare, where lives hang in the balance, simulation serves as a bridge between theory and practice, offering aspiring practitioners a safe environment to hone their skills, make mistakes, and learn from them without endangering real patients. This immersive and hands-on approach not only cultivates confidence but also fosters a deep sense of responsibility and empathy.
Furthermore, the continued growth of the simulation industry is fueled by a shared commitment to excellence in healthcare. It reflects a collective recognition that investing in innovative, technology-driven educational methods ultimately translates to better patient care, reduced medical errors, and improved clinical outcomes.
In essence, the evolution and endurance of simulation in healthcare education are a testament to our unwavering dedication to creating a healthcare workforce that is not only knowledgeable but also compassionate and highly proficient. It’s a commitment to a future where every patient receives the highest standard of care, and every healthcare professional is equipped to make a difference.
In today’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape, the global healthcare simulation training market is poised for remarkable growth. Projections indicate a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.95%, catapulting the market to an estimated value of approximately $7.2 billion by the year 2030.
In this blog, we dive into the world of healthcare simulation, unraveling its meaning and exploring its far-reaching impact on the future of healthcare professional development. We also examine various types of simulation methods shaping the landscape of healthcare training, shedding light on how simulation is revolutionizing the future of medical education and the way we prepare healthcare professionals for the challenges of tomorrow.
Trends in Simulation Based Medical Training
Hybrid Delivery of Learning Methods
Student recruitment and retention are primary challenges facing healthcare education institutions today. Offering an assortment of instructional models to appeal to a wider range of learners is a key component in growing and maintaining institutional enrollment.
The fact of the matter is that student expectations vary. Many healthcare education students are looking for flexible, non-traditional instructional modalities that are more compatible with their busy schedules, while others are more comfortable with traditional learning modes. For this reason, many schools are adapting their offerings to include hybrid learning methods for certain types of medical simulation.
By combining face-to-face instruction with enterprise-level video content management and livestream technologies, educators can merge multiple learning methods and meet the demands of all learners while maintaining a high level of instructional quality.
Analytics and Enhanced Competency Tracking
Healthcare education administrators are increasingly called upon to find ways to enhance learning success across core competencies. In order to track these results, simulation educators must address the implementation of curriculum-wide learner progression tracking, and in the case of students who aren’t meeting requirements, how to quickly identify those learners and guide them toward remediation when necessary.
Advanced analytics from competency tracking software interwoven with existing simulation platforms provide robust assessment tracking and reporting solutions. With access to multiple layers of activity-driven simulation data, educators can utilize the provided analytics to comprehensively track competency-based training activities at the individual, cohort, and course levels. Â
These automated systems can quickly identify learning gaps and send appropriate notifications for intervention to students and faculty, helping prevent learners from falling behind in their simulation-based learning in medical education.
Expediting Practitioners into the FieldÂ
Federal data indicates an expected shortage of healthcare professionals in the next decade. Despite this anticipated shortfall, healthcare training facilities have had to turn away tens of thousands of qualified applicants due to inadequate resources, including training facilities and qualified faculty. Now facing a situation where they have to do less with more, educators are turning to simulation-based learning in medical education to help expedite students’ clinical readiness.
A National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) study found that 50 percent of traditional nursing education clinical hours can be replaced with simulation. Using healthcare simulation software, educators can conduct healthcare simulation scenarios for large groups of learners, decreasing the instructional impact on already stretched-thin faculty and staff. Additionally, the ability to attend to larger cohorts lessens the burden on facilities. Therefore, students waiting for clinical experience have more opportunities to get their hours in regardless of resource availability limitations.
Further Integration into Ongoing Adult Education in Healthcare EnvironmentsÂ
With the rapidly evolving world of healthcare delivery, the benefits of simulation-based learning in medical education can no longer end after a health practitioner’s school days. Doctors, nurses, and physician’s assistants must stay apprised of the latest clinical techniques and care methods throughout their careers.
On-premise, mobile, and flexible implementations of medical simulation scenarios allow busy healthcare professionals to stay abreast of the latest in caregiving techniques while remaining on-site in conditions that are more accommodating to hectic professional schedules. Allowing clinical providers to perform training during the workday saves the cost of having to further fill already busy schedules with off-site training.
Simulation for current professionals isn’t just limited to individual learning. Interprofessional education (IPE) paired with simulation is an excellent approach to cross-train departments and staff from separate locations, providing them with insights into the responsibilities of discipline areas outside of their areas of specialty, and giving participants a holistic view of healthcare that will enhance patient outcomes.
In Situ SimulationÂ
Studies have shown an appropriate amount of realism in simulation training, while still providing a low-stakes environment, greatly improves training outcomes. In situ simulation provides experiential learning in real-world settings, allowing healthcare trainees to engage in near-actual practice.
Because of in situ simulation’s implementation in actual clinical environments, educators can provide learners the ability to improve their clinical reliability and safety in high-risk areas without any danger. This unique on-the-go style of medical simulation focuses on teamwork skills and provides higher amounts of realism than can be accomplished in a standard simulation center.
Telehealth SimulationÂ
Telehealth training allows an educator and a learner who are geographically distant to participate in a wide range of medical simulation scenarios involving standardized patients in a video-based environment.
The arrival of COVID-19 clearly highlighted the need for quality telehealth service delivery, but impactful training for telemedicine encounters was nearly nonexistent. Since the pandemic, telehealth has taken a prominent role in simulation-based learning in medical education.
Healthcare education institutions have quickly pivoted to telemedicine-ready simulation management platforms that have helped them modernize their training programs to merge and manage virtual, online, live, and mobile training curricula.
The Future of Simulation in Medical Education
Healthcare educators face an ever-evolving array of challenges. From the fast pace of medical training environments, to rapidly changing student expectations, to increased demand for their services and output, there is no shortage of issues that demand their attention.
Fortunately, the benefits of simulation-based learning extend beyond its value to students and can address many of these challenges head-on. Simulation’s flexible nature allows instructors to increase output to meet the healthcare industry’s demand for new practitioners, quickly adapt to provide training for new healthcare delivery methods, and provide detailed analytical insight into the learning process that benefits both students and faculty.
Does your current simulation solution allow you to leverage the future of simulation in medical education to improve your learning outcomes? If not, we invite you to discover how EMS’ 30 years of experience in the industry helps us incorporate these latest technology innovations into our simulation training platforms, helping you make the most of the complete scope of your simulation training efforts.