Simulation in Surgical Education

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours per 12.5 credit point subject.

To enrol in this subject, you must be admitted in GC-SURGED, GD-SURGED or MC-SURGED. This subject is not available for students admitted in any other courses.

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this course are articulated in the Course Overview, Objectives and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this course are encouraged to discuss this matter with the Student Equity and Disability Support Team: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Simulation as an educational method is of growing importance in surgical education. Several drivers contribute to this growth including the patient safety movement, safe working hours and technology developments of simulators.

In the United Kingdom, the Chief Medical Officer has identified simulation as one of the top five challenges for the health services and education in this decade. The last twenty years has seen an exponential growth on scholarly work on surgical simulation with specialised journals competing with clinical practice journals for impact factor.

In the United States, it is now mandatory for surgeons to be credentialed in simulation for specific surgical procedures prior to performing the procedures on real patients. It is likely this trend will expand to more procedures and across national boundaries.

The Australian Government is also planning substantial investment in simulation-based education for medicine, nursing and allied health professionals. This subject will contribute to students’ understanding of social, political, economic and educational aspects of simulation.

This subject explores the scope of simulation as an educational method for surgical practice. It goes beyond the role of simulators for the development of psychomotor skills to include blended simulation modalities and the role of simulated patients. Additionally, the validation of simulators will be explored considering industry standards.

The overall aims of the subject are:

• To explore the role of simulation as an educational method for surgical training
• To identify benefits and challenges of simulation in surgical training

After completing the subject participants should be able to:

1. Discuss the rationale for simulation-based education in surgery
2. Discuss the educational theory relevant to simulation-based education
3. Outline essentials for effective simulation-based education
4. Describe and appraise simulator technologies to support surgical training e.g. ASSET
5. Describe the capability of simulation to develop the complex sets of skills required for safe surgical practice
6. Outline the role of simulated patients in surgical education
7. Describe educational methods for effective teaching of clinical communication
8. Describe the role of simulation in supporting the development of teamwork skills
9. Design a learning activity for a session on clinical communication or team working.

• Experiential activity (Hurdle assessment on the study day). In this assessment, students are expected to conduct a teaching session using simulation. Students must work at a high level extending skills learned in core and subsequent subjects.
• Presentation (online tutorial) - 15 minutes (mid-semester) 20% In this assessment, students are expected to critically appraise a surgical simulator using validated criteria. Each student will appraise a different simulator drawing on the literature for evidence.
• Essay (Written reflection on experiential activity) - 1000 words (mid semester) 20% In this assessment, students reflect on their simulation-based experience of teaching and/or learning from the study day. They are expected to integrate educational theory in support of their experience and to identify best practice.
• Essay - 3000 words (end of semester) 60% In this assessment, students have a choice of essay topics exploring contemporary issues in SBE, future directions of SBE relevant for surgical education, the role of simulators in high stakes assessment, the relationship of simulator generated feedback and learning. Each topic draws on and extends knowledge from earlier subjects.

Reading materials online

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Integration of complex simulation strategies into cohesive educational strategies
• Understanding of educational models and strategies for integrating and assessing simulator-assisted teaching
• Study skills related to a range of educational methods
• Presentation skills
• Academic reading skills
• Academic writing
• Applying theory to practice
• Reference manager skills
• Work effectively within a small group
• Learn independently

IT requirements:

Participants will require access to the internet with a minimum connection speed of 256Kbps to access course materials and to participate in on-line discussions and presentations forums. Faster connection speeds are preferred. Participants will also need to verify that their internet connection is configured to allow them to view streamed audio and video files. Test files will be made available for students to test their connections.

Participants are expected to have a headset and microphone connected to their computer for participation in on-line activities.

Participants will be expected to have access to the following Microsoft Office products to fully participate:

• MS Word
• MS Powerpoint

All online applications will be web-based and no special software is required.