Mapping the Expert Mind: Integration Method for Revising the ACES Medical Simulation Curriculum

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose:</jats:title><jats:p> This article shares our experience developing an integrated curriculum for the ACES (Acute Critical Event Simulation) program. The purpose of the ACES program is to ensure that health care providers develop proficiency in the early management of critically ill patients. The program includes multiple different types of educational interventions (mostly simulation-based) and targets both specialty and family physicians practicing in tertiary and community hospitals. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods:</jats:title><jats:p> To facilitate integration between different educational interventions, we developed a knowledge repository consisting of cognitive sequence maps that make explicit the flow of cognitive activities carried out by experts facing different situations - the sequence maps then serving as the foundation upon which multimodal simulation scenarios would be built. To encourage participation of experts, we produced this repository as a peer-reviewed ebook. Five national organizations collaborated with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to identify and recruit expert authors and reviewers. Foundational chapters, centered on goals/interventions, were first developed to comprehensively address most tasks conducted in the early management of a critically ill patient. Tasks from the foundational chapters were then used to complete the curriculum with situations. The curriculum development consisted of two-phases each followed by a peer-review process. In the first phase, focus groups using web-conferencing were conducted to map clinical practice approaches and in the second, authors completed the body of the chapter (e.g., introduction, definition, concepts, etc.) then provided a more detailed description of each task linked to supporting evidence. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results:</jats:title><jats:p> Sixty-seven authors and thirty-five peer reviewers from various backgrounds (physicians, pharmacists, nurses, respiratory therapists) were recruited. On average, there were 32 tasks and 15 situations per chapter. The average number of focus group meetings needed to develop a map (one map per chapter) was 6.7 (SD ± 3.6). We found that the method greatly facilitated integration between different chapters especially for situations which are not limited to a single goal or intervention. For example, almost half of the tasks of the Hypercapnic Ventilatory Failure chapter map were borrowed from other maps with some modifications, which significantly reduced the authors’ workload and enhanced content integration. This chapter was also linked to 6 other chapters. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title><jats:p> To facilitate curriculum integration, we have developed a knowledge repository consisting of cognitive maps which organize time-sensitive tasks in the proper sequence; the repository serving as the foundation upon which other educational interventions are then built. While this methodology is demanding, authors welcomed the challenge given the scholarly value of their work, thus creating an interprofessional network of educators across Canada. </jats:p></jats:sec>

Effects of a simulation‐based education programme on delirium care for critical care nurses: A randomized controlled trial

“…Simulation education is fast becoming a key strategy to improve the knowledge and clinical performance of practitioners working in hospitals (Cardinal et al, 2020; Shah et al, 2019). Simulation activities link the theoretical learning from the classroom with practical, real‐life clinical scenarios (Cardinal et al, 2020; Piryani et al, 2019).…”

“…Simulation education is fast becoming a key strategy to improve the knowledge and clinical performance of practitioners working in hospitals (Cardinal et al, 2020; Shah et al, 2019). Simulation activities link the theoretical learning from the classroom with practical, real‐life clinical scenarios (Cardinal et al, 2020; Piryani et al, 2019). An earlier literature review revealed that a range of interactive education interventions and strategies for health care practitioners have been undertaken to improve delirium care across clinical settings (Coyle et al, 2018).…”

Application of in situ simulation teaching in the training of trainee nurses to respond to emergencies

“…Simulation teaching has established an important position in medical education, but according to existing research and literature at home and abroad, simulation content is primarily available in the fields of anesthesia, first aid, and critical illness (2). However, there are few reports on simulation teaching courses with nursing Original Article Application of in situ simulation teaching in the training of trainee nurses to respond to emergencies emergency incidents as the main content, especially in situ simulation teaching (3). Traditional theoretical teaching can only educate students about the corresponding knowledge points, and cannot enable students to fully and proficiently master clinical thinking and processing procedures, and cannot meet the requirements of the new model of medical education.…”