The Challenge
In the endeavor for improved patient safety, the director of SimuLearn in Bologna, Italy wanted to promote simulation as a better training method for medical personnel. The company had the necessary tools and facilities to conduct simulation courses, but needed partners to fund the actual activity.
The Customer
SimuLearn is a privately owned establishment that primarily offers simulation training in teams for physicians, with special focus on Crisis Resource Management. 250 trained instructors facilitate training for 12,000 individuals per year.
The Journey
It is customary in Italy that pharmaceutical companies financially support the training of physicians. The pharmaceutical industry was hence contacted to discuss whether simulation training could partly replace the traditional medical training. This new concept was well received.
The Solution
SimuLearn was established in 2003. The simulation center designs and facilitates simulation training primarily for physicians. The simulation courses have a special focus on emergency situations, and the use of computer simulation (Laerdal MicroSim) contributes to improve decision making skills in this field. The overall learning outcome is further augmented by lengthy, personalized, instructor-led debrief sessions conducted after each scenario. SimuLearn collaborates with the American Heart Foundation, ANMCO, the Italian Resuscitation Council, the University of Bologna, Institute for Orthopedics, the Emergency Phone Service, and organizations for anaesthesiology and orthopedics. SimuLearn is involved in research related to comparison of different learning methods. The facilities comprise 3 simulation rooms, 3 control rooms, 3 labs, and 3 large auditoriums that are used for lectures, briefs, and debrief sessions. Training equipment currently includes 10 SimMan, 2 SimBaby, 1 AV System, 20 PCs with MicroSim, 8 ALS simulators, and a number of skill trainers and manikins.
The Results
Physicians can now train how to manage chest pain, cardiac arrhythmia, respiratory and cardiac arrest in a safe, controlled environment, without harming real patients. The simulators provide immediate, lifelike feedback, and personalized, lengthy debrief sessions that follow each scenario augment the learning outcomes. After the transition to simulation, Italian physicians can now obtain the annually required 50 CME credits by attending - and passing - three simulation courses including relevant theoretical tests.
