Improving on Reality

Abstract

ANESTHESIOLOGISTS pioneered simulation, as a technology and an educational methodology, in the late 1980s.1,2 Yet, its adoption has been limited largely to residency training programs and medical schools. A number of institutions and researchers have reported the benefits of simulation for teaching medical students, anesthesiology residents, and trainees in other disciplines. The benefit of simulation for teaching procedural skills has been shown to transfer to the bedside. Although the benefit of simulation for training cognitive and behavioral skills has been shown to improve performance in the simulation laboratory, similar improvements are harder to measure in a clinical setting. Appropriately, using the simulated setting for measuring outcomes raises concerns over whether the performance improvement is a result of “teaching to the test,” and whether performance gains are transferable to patients. In this issue of Anesthesiology, the link between simulation and clinical care has finally been made.3