A brief history of the development of mannequin simulators for clinical education and training

Abstract

Simulation for medical and healthcare applications, although still in a relatively nascent stage of development, already has a history that can inform the process of further research and dissemination. The development of mannequin simulators used for education, training, and research is reviewed, tracing the motivations, evolution to commercial availability, and efforts toward assessment of efficacy of those for teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiology skills, anaesthesia clinical skills, and crisis management. A brief overview of procedural simulators and part-task trainers is also presented, contrasting the two domains and suggesting that a thorough history of the 20+ types of simulator technologies would provide a useful overview and perspective. There has been relatively little cross fertilisation of ideas and methods between the two simulator domains. Enhanced interaction between investigators and integration of simulation technologies would be beneficial for the dissemination of the concepts and their applications.

Role of Simulation in US Physician Licensure and Certification

“…Cooper and Taqueti give a comprehensive overview of simulation and note that, because the field is arguably in its early stages, few accepted conventions exist. 10 Some basic terms, however, do exist with which the reader should be familiar (Table 5). These definitions provide a broad framework to describe the various types of simulators available in medical education today and encompass a wide array of human (eg, SPs) and technology-based (eg, mannequins) simulation techniques.…”

Review article: Assessment in anesthesiology education

“…[32][33][34] Not surprisingly, based on the practice requirements for anesthesiology, simulation-based assessments can be particularly valuable to measure decisionmaking and high-acuity patient care skills in the compressed time line that frequently exists in settings such as the operating room, recovery room, or intensive care unit. 35,36 As mentioned previously, the long history of simulation in anesthesiology 37 coupled with advances in technology has effectively broadened the potential assessment domain for the specialty. 18 This affiliation has allowed for the measurement of both procedural 17 and non-technical skills such as communication, situational awareness, teamwork, and professionalism.…”

Review article: Simulation in anesthesia: state of the science and looking forward

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Simulation in the form of standardized patients and early full-body mannequin simulators has been described in the healthcare literature since the late 1960s. [6][7][8] However, its broader acceptance into medical education can be dated closer to the turn of the 21st century with the formation of the Association of Standardized Patients in 1991, 9 the first International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in 1995, 10 the establishment of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2004, 10 and the publication of Simulation in Healthcare beginning in 2006. 11 The growing acceptance of simulation in healthcare training has been attributed to the decreased availability and acceptance of practising skills on patients, the growth in technology, which has fuelled the development of increasingly sophisticated simulation modalities, as well as the development of a culture of safety, which has resulted in decreased tolerance for errors.…”