Larger student groups and pressure on limited faculty time have raised the question of the learning value of merely observing simulation training in emergency medicine, instead of active team participation. The purpose of this study was to examine observers and hands-on participants' self-reported learning outcomes during simulation-based interprofessional team training regarding non-technical skills. In addition, we compared the learning outcomes for different professions and investigated team performance relative to the number of simulations in which they participated. A concurrent mixed-method design was chosen to evaluate the study, using questionnaires, observations, and focus group interviews. Participants included a total of 262 postgraduate and bachelor nursing students and medical students, organised into 44 interprofessional teams. The quantitative data showed that observers and participants had similar results in three of six predefined learning outcomes. The qualitative data emphasised the importance of participating in different roles, training several times, and training interprofessionally to enhance realism. Observing simulation training can be a valuable learning experience, but the students' preferred hands-on participation and learning by doing. For this reason, one can legitimise the observer role, given the large student groups and limited faculty time, as long as the students are also given some opportunity for hands-on participation in order to become more confident in their professional roles.

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Simulation-based learning (SBL) is becoming an accepted part of health education. Providing high-quality simulation-based education depends more on skilled facilitators than on elaborate simulator equipment. In the last six years, a cross-professional facilitator course has been developed to train interprofessional staff and faculty from health educational institutions in Bergen. The course starts with two days of traditional simulation theory and practice followed by a third day five weeks later. During the third day, participants present their own experiences from practising as facilitators in their own workplaces. In this paper, we present the course content and the participants' evaluation of the course based on the qualitative content analysis of their answers to openended questions. The main findings were that the course format and primary focus on practice were appreciated and that the follow-up day was especially useful to broaden the learning experience.

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