Simulation has offered a practical means to train and rehearse clinical skills for many years. Simulated environments, patients, and related technologies have been used to develop, validate, and maintain a wide range of clinical skills across numerous clinical specialties. In the past 30 years, the field has truly thrived, as evidenced in rapidly evolving simulation technologies; the ever-increasing volume and quality of simulation-based scientific studies; the institution of numerous peer-reviewed outlets for the dissemination of these studies; the number of learned societies dedicated to promoting simulation and their expansive memberships; and the widespread development and availability of clinical educational resources, curricula, and policies centered on application of simulation. Such simulation-based training applications and interventions within the health professions has been termed an “ethical imperative”, whereby demonstrating proficiency on simulation-based tasks and procedures before performing them in a clinical environment on patients seems to be a trend gaining significant momentum.
(Source: Advances in Simulation)