Telesimulation-based education during COVID-19

Abstract

Simulation is a valuable, immersive educational tool for both health professional trainees and experienced clinicians. By promoting a realistic, collaborative, safe, hands-on, learning environment, simulation allows interprofessional teams to come together and practise both routine and high stakes, low-frequency events. The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing have shifted traditional simulation-based medical education towards a virtual platform: telesimulation. Telesimulation is an evolving field and the speed at which clinical educators need to adapt to use this platform is unprecedented. Educators must quickly navigate and leverage the differences between traditional simulation and telesimulation to create robust remote educational experiences. Telesimulation has unique goals and objectives, technology needs, and participant roles that need to be understood and properly operationalized to maximize opportunities for learning. This article reviews the authors’ recommendations for developing and delivering successful telesimulations.