Following the launch of the Royal Free Hospital Medical Simulation Centre we take a look at how simulators are changing medical training
The first use of simulators as a training aid was as early in the 1930’s with the ‘Link Trainer’ which was designed as a safe way to teach pilots how to use their instruments. While the Link Trainer was a breakthrough and a huge advance in pilot training, the technology used was extremely basic (using simple pumps and valves) and it wouldn’t be until much later that technology would allow for the use of simulators in medical training.
Medical simulators use the technological advances to allow medical professionals to hone their skills on simulated patients. With realistic clinical scenarios being reliably reproduced there is no risk to the patient. According to The Royal Free Simulation Centre ‘The application of screen-based technologies can improve the patients’ experience by enhancing healthcare professional standards within their area of expertise.’
As simulation within medicine is still relatively new there is still alot of research that needs to be done. However according to the small amount of research that has been done, students using advanced medical simulation training methods have higher retention and perform substantially better than their colleagues using traditional paper based learning. And with the Institute of Medicine estimating that 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually are recorded due primarily to medical mistakes during treatment any new training that can assist in bringing that number down will be more than welcome.
Their are several efficiency gains that come with medical simulation too – cost, time and the number of personnel required for training are all reduced with the use of medical simulators, plus other benefits including the ability to store and track performance history and global statistics for several linked medical simulators.
So the future for medical simulation is extremely exciting and the potential for growth is huge. The RFH Medical Simulation Centre believes that ‘this is just the beginning of an extraordinary journey towards a different way of thinking innovation in education and training…’
Energy House Digital designed and developed the website for the Royal Free Hospital Simulation Centre which gives users access to information on the simulators and the centre as well as allow the user to book courses and time slots on the simulators using a ‘hotel style’ booking system. The website is the first port of call for prospective visitors to the centre so it was important that it too used innovation and intelligent technology to create an enjoyable user experience. See the live site here
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