A Guide for Medical Educators: How to Design and Implement In Situ Simulation in an Academic Emergency Department to Support Interprofessional Education

Abstract

In situ simulation (ISS) put simulation training directly into the clinical practice environment. Although ISS creates opportunities to identify latent system threats, understand culture, and improve team dynamics, there are limited resources for medical educators to guide the development and implementation of ISS at academic (or community-based) emergency departments (EDs). We describe the implementation of ISS in a high-volume urban ED to help educators understand the requirements and limitations of successful program design. During an academic year, 66 individual learners participated in at least one of our 22 training sessions, a cohort that included 37 nurses, 17 physicians, eight physician assistants, and four allied health professionals. Feedback from these participants and case facilitators informed our iterative process of review and development of program guidelines and best practices. We share these key technical points and the themes we found to be essential to the successful implementation of an ISS program: consideration of session timing, participant buy-in, flexibility, and threats to professional identity. Overall, our report demonstrates the feasibility of implementing an ISS program in a high-volume urban ED and provides medical educators with a guide for creating an ISS program for interprofessional education.