Bringing Medical Education, Training and Health Care Delivery into the Twenty-first Century

A White Paper by By Deborah N. Burgess, M.D., F.A.C.P, Senior Vice President, ICF International

The aviation industry has been using flight simulation to instruct and prepare pilots to successfully manage low occurrence, high-risk catastrophic events ever since the original “Blue box” Link Trainer was created in 1929. It was not until the 1980’s that the medical community recognized simulation’s importance in training and skill sustainment. Since that time, medical simulation has proven to be a versatile tool that provides established health care professionals access to continuing education and students learning to become health care professionals, additional time for the education and practice of complex cognitive and psychomotor skills. It has enabled military medical personnel to train for disaster response and combat trauma management and has saved lives on the battlefield. Medical simulation offers excellent opportunities for health care organizations to enhance quality and patient safety by improving communication and teamwork skills.