Designing and Integrating Clinical and Computer-based Simulations in Health Informatics: From Real-World to Virtual Reality

Abstract

Simulations were first used in health care over 40 years ago when Denson and Abrahamson (1969) developed and used a simulator (i.e., Sim One) to train medical residents to perform two medical procedures (endotracheal intubation and anesthesia induction) and demonstrated the usefulness of the simulator in teaching medical students how to perform these medical procedures. Although innovative at the time, simulation was not readily adopted as a methodology for training health care professionals and students until the 1980’s. In the mid 1980’s there was a resurgence of interest in using simulation to train health professionals with improvements in the availability of computers. Computer-based simulations were identified as a method for teaching health professional students clinical knowledge that could be used in decision-making involving patient care. Computer-based simulations were found by researchers to be helpful as an aid in educating physicians and other health professionals about the anatomy and physiology of the human body and its pharmacologic treatment. Unfortunately, these computer-based simulations did not provide health professional students with sufficient opportunities to develop both the practical knowledge and the technical skills that were needed in real-world clinical situations involving patients. Computer-based simulations could not adequately mimic real-world, patient health care events characteristic of those found in physician office, clinical and hospital environments (Byrick & Wylands, 2009).