Vic speaks with Ben and two special guests about their recent papers on ‘outreach simulation’, and how they used educational courses on Paediatric resuscitation around rural and regional Qld to understand system challenges faced by these sites. The conversation illustrates the importance of program philosophy, long term relationships and systematic approaches to identifying and following up system challenges.   Alex St-Onge-St-Hilaire is a paediatric emergency medicine physician and co-director of the simulation fellowship at KidSIM, based at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Canada. Alex recently completed a fellowship in simulation education trained with the STORK team   Louise Dodson is a Simulation Nurse Educator with the Children’s Health Queensland STORK team. She is a paediatric emergency nurse by trade and helped develop the hospital wide simulation program at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane around 20 years ago.    Ben Symon (as well as being a Simulcast Co-producer!)  is a simulation consultant for STORK, where he leads the fellowship program and coordinates resource and course development.    Paediatric resuscitation in regional Queensland: A simulation informed biopsy of current system challenges. Emergency Medicine Australasia 2025 A. St‑Onge‑St‑Hilaire, B. Lawton, L. Dodson, J. Acworth, D. Hufton and B. Symon  Outreach simulation for system improvement: a novel advocacy and reporting process. Advances in Sim 2025 A. St‑Onge‑St‑Hilaire, B. Lawton, L. Dodson, J. Acworth, D. Hufton and B. Symon  More about STORK and their educational work here.   Happy listening! 

Join us in Singapore next year July 16th and 17th for Simulation Reconnect.  In this short episode, Vic is joined by Daniel Seng from Woodlands Health, who will be hosting the event in 2026.  We welcome simulation practitioners, educators, clinical leaders and quality improvement specialists. The program features workshops and talks, with speakers from Singapore, Australia and Norway. All this in beautiful Singapore,  To register your interest, please go https://for.sg/interestsimreconnect26 and we will reach out with more updates when registration opens.   

Join us for the October edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon. In this episode: AI in simulation, simulation reducing sick leave, calculating the cost of simulation, and simulation based toolkits to address hospital acquired conditions.     The October papers   Cheng A, McGregor C. Applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare simulation: a model of thinking. Advances in Simulation. 2025;10:45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41077-025-00379-7   Schram AL, Bonne NL, Henriksen TB, Hertel NT, Petersen PG, Bjerrum MC, et al. Effect of simulation-based team training on sick leave among healthcare professionals: a multisite controlled follow-up study. Journal of Healthcare Simulation. 2025 Sep 3. https://doi.org/10.54531/XCVT3140   Verhoeff TL, Janssen JJHM, Röell AE, Hoff RG. The surprising costs of on-site surgical team CRM training: a Dutch example analyzed. Advances in Simulation. 2025;10:37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41077-025-00367-x   Barker LT, Bond WF, Willemsen-Dunlap AM, Cooley KL, McGarvey JS, Ruger RL, et al. Simulation-Debriefing Enhanced Needs Assessment to address quality markers in health care: an innovation for prospective hazard analysis. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2025;51:144–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2024.10.004     Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening 

How do we demonstrate the value of what we do in healthcare simulation?  This question prompted Lisa Barker and a stellar author team to develop a new model for thinking about value in simulation. They present that model - and the thinking behind it - in Value-based simulation in healthcare: a new model for metrics reporting, recently published in Advances in Simulation. They authors describe their article as “.. designed to support simulation teams and organizational leaders in selecting relevant measurement strategies, aligning simulation work with institutional goals, and co-creating metrics that are operationally meaningful.”  In this Simulcast/ Advances episode, Vic speaks with Lisa Barker and two of her co-authors; Ben Symon and Katie Walker. Our conversation started with a look back at the challenge of measuring and demonstrating value from simulation activities, and a timeline summary of how this issue has been approached over the last 25 years.  We then parse the value-based simulation in healthcare (VBSH) model, comprising six distinct but interdependent categories: Service Products, Program Perceptions, Acquired Expertise, Workplace Performance, System Benefit, and Value Analyses. Lisa, Ben and Katie leave us with some final thoughts as to how this might be applied in practice and offer some speculation about future work on value in healthcare simulation.  Some of the many references to background literature in our conversation included:  Barsuk JH, McGaghie WC, Cohen ER, Balachandran JS, Wayne DB. Use of simulation-based mastery learning to improve the quality of central venous catheter placement in a medical intensive care unit. J Hosp Med. 2009 Sep;4(7):397-403.  Nestel D, Brazil V, Hay M. You can't put a value on that… Or can you? Economic evaluation in simulation-based medical education. Med Educ. 2018 Feb;52(2):139-141.  Varpio L, Sherbino J. Demonstrating causality, bestowing honours, and contributing to the arms race: threats to the sustainability of HPE research. Med Educ. 2023;58(1):1–7  Barker L. et al, Simulation-Debriefing Enhanced Needs Assessment to Address Quality Markers in Health Care: An Innovation for Prospective Hazard Analysis, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Volume 51, Issue 2, 2025,  Happy listening 

Join us for the September edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon. In this episode: Adapting simulating across cultural contexts, ‘Choosing Wisely’ for sensible sim, Video assisted simulation reflection – for teachers!, and simulation in Italy.    And HOT OFF THE PRESS…  The AMEE conference Simulation Journal Club was on last week. We reviewed the 4 shortlisted papers on Simulcast with Rune Del Jessen and Gabe Reedy a few weeks ago. The event went well, with standing room only at the presentation of papers in Barcelona. And the winner is …   “I Hate Sim!”—Using psychotherapeutic concepts to help educators attend to challenging states of mind during simulation prebriefs.by Drake G, Drewek K.   Congratulations!    The September papers  Charnetski MD, Asoodar M, Wawersik D, van Mook W. Navigating cultural landscapes: a thematic analysis of home faculty experiences in transborder simulation curriculum development and adaptation. BMC Med Educ. 2025;25:888.   Monteiro S, Sibbald M, Beecroft J, Bhanji F, Caners K, Chen R, et al. Choosing wisely for simulation-based learning in health professions education. Med Sci Educ. 2025.   Levin O. ‘Reflecting on every move’: the role of video in simulation-based learning for teacher education. Eur J Teach Educ. 2025.   Ingrassia PL, Barelli A, Benedetti E, Bressan S, Carenzo L, D’Agostino F, et al. A national position paper for the strategic development of healthcare simulation in Italy. J Patient Saf. 2025.     Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening    

Join us for the August edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, recorded live at the Australasian Simulation Congress 2025 in Adelaide:   Vic was joined by guest Adam Montagu , Ellen Davies and Parick Frost to discuss two papers relevant to the work being done at Adelaide Health Simulation  Davies, E., Crawford, L., Crawford, T. et al. Capturing and cultivating the simulated patient/participant (SP) experience: a qualitative study exploring how the perspectives of SPs can inform the co-production of an orientation resource guide. Adv Simul 10, 14 (2025)  Davies, E., Montagu, A. & Brazil, V. Recommendations for embedding simulation in health services. Adv Simul 8, 23 (2023).    Some upcoming conferences and courses  VSA Translational SIMposium (Northern Health 17 October) https://vicsim.org/component/eventbooking/vsa-event/victorian-translational-simposium  Douglas Starship Simulation Advanced Workshop (Courtesy of Erin Carn-Bennett)  S3 conference in Singapore – Ben is speaking!  Taryn Taylor comes to Bond University - Primed for Insight: Simulation to explore teams and culture    Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening    

Moving hospitals? How can simulation help?  In the latest of our collaborative episodes with Advances in Simulation, Vic interviews Nathan Oliver about his recent article:   Oliver, N., Twentyman, K. & Howie, K. ‘Everybody’s voice is important’: using translational simulation as a component of change management. Adv Simul 10, 38 (2025).  Nathan and team were asked to support the transition to a new hospital in Scotland. They took a very human centred approach, and we discussed Laura Rock’s adage to ‘not answer feelings with facts’ when considering staff anxieties about change. They drew upon Bartenuk’s work to orient their thinking about how change was experienced at the individual level, beyond simply measuring resistance or readiness.  The simulation strategy, design, delivery and debriefing were guided by Nickson’s IPO model.  Nickson, C.P., Petrosoniak, A., Barwick, S. et al. Translational simulation: from description to action. Adv Simul 6, 6 (2021)  Among many interesting elements, we reflected on the process of Systems focused debriefing, including some great work in this area by others.  Dubé, Mirette M. et al. PEARLS for Systems Integration: A Modified PEARLS Framework for Debriefing Systems-Focused Simulations. Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare 14(5):p 333-342, October 2019.  Colman, N., Dalpiaz, A., Walter, S. et al. SAFEE: A Debriefing Tool to Identify Latent Conditions in Simulation-based Hospital Design Testing. Adv Simul 5, 14 (2020)  Bentley, S.K., McNamara, S., Meguerdichian, M. et al. Debrief it all: a tool for inclusion of Safety-II. Adv Simul 6, 9 (2021)  We discussed data strategies for translational simulation, and the challenges of generating actionable insights from translational simulation.  One other interesting aspect was one of the data collection methods, using post it notes to capture ‘in the moment’ feelings.  Kolbe M, Rudolph JW. What's the headline on your mind right now? How reflection guides simulation-based faculty development in a master class. BMJ Simul Technol Enhanc Learn. 2018 Jul 9;4(3):126-132.  Nathan was also generous with his shout-outs to collaborators in the simulation and the scholarship of this project, including Simon Edgar, Dan Hufton, Vicky Tallentire and of course his co-authors Kathryn Twentyman and Katie Howie. Congratulations to Nathan and the team.  Happy listening! 

Join us for the July edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon. In this episode: Interprofessional Co-debriefing, AI for scenario design and for supporting sim debriefings, and some SESAM abstracts!  Also – some upcoming conferences  Australasian Simulation Congress (Adelaide 11-14 August) https://simaust.com/australasian-simulation-congress/  VSA Translational SIMposium (Northern Health 17 October)  https://vicsim.org/component/eventbooking/vsa-event/victorian-translational-simposium  The July papers  Joyce LR, Meeks M, Somerville SG. Interprofessional co-debriefing in simulation—role modeling collaboration: a qualitative study. Simul Healthc. 2025;00(00):1–9.   Hong E, et al. Exploring the use of a large language model in simulation debriefing: an observational simulation-based pilot study. Simul Healthc. 2025;00(00):1–6.   Maaz S, et al. Prompt design and comparing large language models for healthcare simulation case scenarios. J Healthc Simul. 2025 May 12.   Selected Abstracts from the Annual Meeting of SESAM - the Society for Simulation in Europe, 2025. Adv Simul 10 (Suppl 1), 35 (2025).    Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening 

In this special episode, Vic is joined by Rune Dall Jensen and Gabriel Reedy to preview the AMEE Simulation Committee journal club session. This is an annual event held each year at the AMEE (International Association for Health Professions Education) conference; this year in Barcelona Spain on 23rd – 27th August.  Rune and Gabe tell us about the event, the way papers are selected, and then preview the top 4 that will be presented at the event. For AMEE 2025 registration – link here  The papers: -  Bevis Z, Nestel D, Kumar A, Gibson S, Kavanagh M, Rosado C, et al. Instruction and guidance in healthcare simulation: a scoping review. J Healthc Simul. Published online 5 Mar 2025.  Behrens CC, Dolmans DH, Driessen EW, Gormley GJ. ‘Dancing with emotions’: An interpretive descriptive study of facilitators’ recognition and response to students’ emotions during simulation. Med Educ. 2025;59(4):439-448.  Evans JC, Evans MB, Lingard L. Team cognition in healthcare simulation: a framework for deliberate measurement. Adv Simul (Lond). 2025;10:12. doi:10.1186/s41077-025-00333-7  Drake G, Drewek K. “I Hate Sim!”—Using psychotherapeutic concepts to help educators attend to challenging states of mind during simulation prebriefs. Simul Healthc. 2024;19(6):e147-e153.     Happy listening!  vb 

Join us for the June edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon. In this episode: Embedded participants in simulation, publishing study protocols, improving research study enrolment through simulation, and improving sustainability in simulation (and in healthcare. (Oh and Ben has started a Taryn Taylor fan club….)  The papers  Paguio JT, Tieu M, Davies EL. Functions and roles of embedded participants in health simulation – an exploratory qualitative observational study protocol. J Healthc Simul. 2025 Apr 28.  Walker S, Purdy E, Houghton H, Dace W, Brazil V. Navigating professional identities: nursing faculty as embedded simulation participants in medical student simulations. Adv Simul. 2025;10(28). Fatovich DM, Carey S, Iliff J, Jowitt T, Weber DG, Vance JS. Integrating research practice into resuscitation simulation training improves recruitment into complex clinical trials. Emerg Med Australas. 2025;37:e70064. Mitchell K, Canham R, Hughes K, Tallentire VR. Simulation-based education and sustainability: creating a bridge to action. Adv Simul. 2025;10(27).   Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening    

Join us for the May edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon. In this episode: Cracking the debriefing approach for embracing complexity adaptive systems, psychological safety as gardening, ethical AI in academic writing, and medical students practising IV cannulas on each other…     The papers  Amorøe TN et al. Resilience-focused debriefing: addressing complexity in interprofessional simulation-based education—a design-based research study. Adv Simul. 2025; 10:25.   Nestel D, et al. ‘Tending’ the ‘garden’ of psychological safety in simulation-based education. J Healthc Simul. 2025 Apr 21.   Cheng A, et al. Artificial intelligence-assisted academic writing: recommendations for ethical use. Adv Simul. 2025;10:22.   Kiernan R, et al. Medical students' preferences on practicing intravenous insertion on each other and via simulation. Simul Healthc. 2025 Apr;20(2):129–135.   Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening 

Ever wondered if we should have tested the new hospital space before moving in? Thinking that new piece of equipment won’t work for your current workflow? Want to implement a new checklist but not sure if it will work?    In this episode Vic and Ben speak with Andrew Petrosoniak and Christopher Hicks from Advanced Performance. Chris and Petro are both emergency physicians who have built an impressive repertoire of using simulation to explore and improve performance of team, systems and spaces in healthcare.    Our conversation is wide ranging, offering perspectives on why this use of simulation is still relatively limited, as well as how the processes for this technique are evolving.  We talked about design thinking and simulation, the use of framework analysis, the Macleamy curve, and the concepts of ROI for this work.    Ben shared his favourite book on design principles. We referred to some other excellent podcasts including Paul Phrampus talking about connecting with hospital executives on One Million Lives, and our own episode of Simulcast discussing Nora Colman’s paper saving $90 million testing a hospital before it was built.    Lots more on the Advanced Performance website.    Happy listening    

Join us for the April edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon, In this episode: Self-led debriefings, measuring team cognition, simulation as a basic computational mechanism in the brain, and picto-dictionaries.  The papers  Kumar P, Harrison NM, McAleer K, Khan I, Somerville SG. Exploring the role of self-led debriefings within simulation-based education: time to challenge the status quo?. Adv Simul. 2025;10(9).  Evans JC, Evans MB, Lingard L. Team cognition in healthcare simulation: a framework for deliberate measurement. Adv Simul. 2025;10(12).  Barsalou LW. Simulation, situated conceptualization, and prediction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009;364(1521):1281–89.  Kou M, Sanseau E, Kardong-Edgren S, von Hauff P, Ramachandra G, Walsh B, et al. Enhancing simulation-based healthcare education and research reporting using pictograms: does a picture paint a thousand words? Commentary from the International Distance Simulation Summit Pictogram Track. J Healthc Simul. 2025 Apr 14.  Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening    

Welcome to Simulcast! In this special episode, Victoria Brazil is joined by Hege Ersdal and Benjamin Kamala, the joint first authors of a ground-breaking study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Their program aimed to reduce birth-related mortality in Tanzania, with spectacular success. The Safer Births Bundle integrated key elements: innovative simulation training, data-driven quality improvements, advanced clinical devices, and international collaboration and local empowerment. Neonatal mortality was reduced by 40 % and maternal deaths reduced by 75%. Congratulations to all involved.  The article:  Kamala BA, Ersdal HL, Moshiro RD, Guga G, Dalen I, Kvaløy JT, Bundala FA, Makuwani A, Kapologwe NA, Mfaume RS, Mduma ER, Mdoe P; Safer Births Bundle of Care Study Group. Outcomes of a Program to Reduce Birth-Related Mortality in Tanzania. N Engl J Med. 2025 Mar 13;392(11):1100-1110. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2406295. 

Join us for the March edition of the Simulcast Journal Club, hosted by Vic Brazil and Ben Symon, In this episode: Integrating electronic medical records into simulations, learning from reluctant participants in paediatric simulation training, using tabletop sandbox simulations to understand emergency department care coordination, and quality in simulated participant programs in Australia.  The papers  Wu, T., & Coggins, A. R. (2025). Low-cost electronic medical record interface for healthcare simulation. Journal of Healthcare Simulation SRSIS, 1, S9–S11. https://doi.org/10.54531/AGRS5189  Hybinette, K., Praetorius, G., Ekstedt, M., & Pukk Härenstam, K. (2025). Navigating the complexity of emergency department care coordination: A qualitative exploration of adaptive strategies using a tabletop sandbox simulation. Applied Ergonomics, 125, 104466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104466  Newhouse, L., & Polwart, N. (2025). What can simulation educators learn from the reluctant participant? An exploration of the factors influencing engagement amongst adult learners participating in paediatric simulation training. Advances in Simulation, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41077-025-00331-9  Stokes-Parish, J., Bannatyne, A., Green, P., Alsaba, N., Turner, C., Marr, K., & Gough, S. (2025). Benchmarking person-centered simulated participant programs: A Delphi consensus study in an Australian context. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 99, 101683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2024.101683    Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening    

This is our 200th episode of Simulcast. To mark the occasion, Vic, Ben. Jess and Jesse all shared some thoughts on what we think we’ve achieved, the impacts that Simulcast has had on us, and ventured some highlights   We reflected on our first episode in 2016, and our review of Davis Gaba’s Future vision of simulation in healthcare. Ben ventured that he thought we might end up like the Margaret and David of journal club hosts. 😊 We all then had a slightly more serious thought about our future vison of healthcare simulation over the next 10 years.  Happy listening. 

Ever felt that preparing equipment for advanced airway management in your ED is ‘messy’?  In this episode Vic interviews Dr Ava Butler, an emergency doctor and QI/ simulation practitioner from rural British Columbia. We discussed her recent article about how equipment re-design and translational simulation was used to dramatically improve preparation speed and staff level of comfort with advanced airway management.  The conversation was informative and inspiring. We talked about the liberating structures process of brainstorming ideas for improvement, the role of patient partners in improvement, the hierarchy of interventions in quality improvement, and the significance of qualitative measures and stories in improvement efforts.  We marvelled at the dramatic improvements they achieved using a color-coded airway cart and translational simulation; a 76% reduction in time taken to prepare airway equipment, and significant improvements in staff comfort and team culture. EM sim cases got an honourable mention 😊, as did quality improvement initiatives that bring teams to the forefront. Ava explained just how rewarding it is to be part of a rural practitioner team who design improvements with patients at the centre.  Learn about the implementation of a color-coded airway cart and how quality improvement techniques empowered healthcare workers, increased their confidence, and enhanced patient experiences.  Happy Listening    The paper   Ava Butler, Michael Chen, Shruti Kaushik, Terra Lee, Liam Raudaschl & Audrey Giles. From “Airway scares me” to “I would say I’m pretty comfortable”: quality improvement for reducing time to obtain equipment for adult advanced airway management in a rural emergency department. Can J Emerg Med (2025). 

Ben and Vic are back for 2025, reviewing the latest healthcare simulation literature in the February episode of the journal club.   A call to honour SPs, saving $90million though simulation testing, cognitive biases in simulation debriefing and inspiring simulation-based improvement work from Tanzania.  The papers  Clark, L., et al (2024). Call to Action: Honoring Simulated Participants and Collaborating With Simulated Participant Educators. Simulation in Healthcare.   Colman, Net al. (2024). The Business Case for Simulation-Based Hospital Design Testing: $90M Saved in Costs Avoided. Pediatric Quality and Safety, 9:e775.   Meguerdichian, M. J., et al. (2024). When Common Cognitive Biases Impact Debriefing Conversations. Advances in Simulation, 9:48.   Kamala, B. A et. al. (2025). Practice, Experiences, and Facilitators of Simulation-Based Training During One Year of Implementation in 30 Hospitals in Tanzania. SAGE Open Nursing, 11, 1–13.    Another great month on Simulcast.  Happy listening 

In this episode of Simulcast, Vic Brazil is joined by Vicki LeBlanc and Glenn Posner to discuss their recent article "More Than a Feeling: Emotional Regulation Strategies for Simulation-Based Education" published in Advances in Simulation.   The conversation delves into the importance of recognizing and addressing emotions in simulation-based learning environments. Vicki and Glenn share insights on why emotions are often seen as taboo or difficult to manage in simulation, despite being a natural part of clinical practice (and everyday life!). They explain how emotions impact cognitive processes like attention, judgment and memory, and why ignoring them can hinder learning objectives.  We explore practical strategies for identifying emotional cues, assessing whether emotions are helpful or hindering, and employing implicit or explicit regulation techniques. We emphasize the need to normalize emotional responses and view them as valuable data, rather than something to be avoided.  The article aims to provide simulation educators with a comprehensive framework for understanding and responding to the emotional aspects of simulation-based learning. It challenges the notion that simulation should be a purely rational endeavour, underscoring the vital role emotions play in preparing healthcare learners for the realities of clinical practice.  Happy listening! 

Simulating ICU transports to determine lift sizes. Meta-debriefing, clinical debriefing in operating theatres, and supporting psychological safety. Another great episode on Simulcast journal club to close out 2024. We’ll be back in February 2025!  And, for bonus holiday viewing… also check out Ben Symon’s brilliant talk at the Victorian Simulation Alliance on the importance of algorithm design in healthcare and how simulation can help.   The articles (with links): -  Barnett SG, Stephens KM. Simulated impact of lift car sizes on transport of critical care patients: Informing the design of the New Dunedin Hospital. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2024 May;52(3):188-196.  Kumar, Prashant et al. Exploring the Meta-debrief: Developing a Toolbox for Debriefing the Debrief. Simulation in Healthcare, October 22, 2024  Phillips, Emma et al. Development and validation of the theatre team tool (TTT): A clinical debriefing tool for multidisciplinary theatre teams. Trends in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Volume 58, 2024.  Vaughn, J. et al. Promoting psychological safety in simulation using a novel visual tool: A mixed-methods quasi-experimental study, Nurse Education Today, Volume 146, 2025,    Happy holidays and thanks for listening to Simulcast in 2024!