Eastern Virginia Medical School Uses, Contributes to AHRQ's Healthcare Simulation Dictionary
Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, Virginia, uses and contributes to the AHRQ Healthcare Simulation Dictionary, which international simulation experts developed to standardize the growing list of terms in this expanding field. AHRQ partnered with the Society for Simulation in Healthcare to develop the dictionary in order to boost communication and clarity in healthcare teaching, education, assessment, and research.
Simulation in healthcare creates a safe learning environment for researchers and practitioners to test and improve new clinical processes and enhance individual and team skills in a given technique or procedure before touching patients, thereby improving patient safety. The 2020 edition of the dictionary includes definitions for 170 healthcare simulation terms.
“The dictionary is a useful guideline for our staff. Everyone has a digital copy, and many people here have hard copies, too,” said Bob Armstrong, executive director of the simulation center at EVMS and an assistant professor within the School of Health Professions. He also is an active member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, for which he served as president in 2020.
Armstrong and his team both use and contribute to the simulation dictionary. “It’s a foundational reference for us, and one of the valuable aspects of the dictionary is the ability to contribute new terms that are added when the dictionary is regularly updated,” Armstrong said.
The simulation program at EVMS is robust and mature, Armstrong explained. “We provide everything from conversational to sensitive exam simulations, and use all kinds of tools, from rudimentary task trainers to a Da Vinci Xi robotic surgery device. We also focus a lot on ultrasound teaching and advanced life support trauma training. It’s a big outfit, with 24 full-time and 120 part-time employees,” he said.
In some cases, Armstrong’s team instructs medical and health professions students on the use of basic procedures. The team also assists professors by providing the simulation technology and support needed for teaching.
Armstrong has found many resources on the AHRQ website to be useful. He also noted, “AHRQ simulation grants really helped increase the use and interest in healthcare simulation training.”
EVMS has been fully incorporating simulation training into its medical education for about 30 years. The EVMS simulation services also are used by about 90 other institutions and medical schools.
