SC1 A national survey for UK healthcare students and early trainees interested in using simulation to teach: identification of incentives, benefits and barriers

Abstract

Background sASPiH is the student special interest group of the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH).1 sASPiH’s primary aim is to recruit, retain, and develop students and early postgraduates (i.e. within their first two years of postgraduate practice) within ASPiH. Its secondary aim is to help early career healthcare professionals (ECHPs) engage with simulation-based education (SBE), both as learners and practitioners, across the country. Anecdotal evidence suggests there is large variability between and within regions for the development of early career individuals as simulation-based practitioners, with a variety of approaches evident. We wished to investigate this in more depth to enable sASPiH to support ECHP development as simulation-based practitioners (SBPs) at a national level. Summary of project A survey was designed with input from the following groups: ECHP medical educators, sASPiH members, sASPiH alumni, and senior SBPs in the simulation community. We plan to deploy the survey in August 2018 to student and early postgraduate medical educators within and outside of ASPiH. To distribute the survey, we aim to use social media with the support of other student and early career groups dedicated to medical education in the UK. The survey employs Likert scale and free text questions to identify the incentives, benefits, and barriers associated with using simulation to teach at this level. Results Survey results will be presented at the ASPiH annual conference in November 2018 and made available online at aspih.org.uk/students. A national strategy will be devised by sASPiH based on the results and presented. Discussion Supporting local centres and regions to engage with the ECHP population would benefit sASPiH and ASPiH in the longer term by increasing SBE activity and research, and potentially boosting recruitment and retention to the organisation. Those centres would also benefit from earlier and accelerated development of faculty. Therefore, a longer-term aim of this project would be to use the results to guide the activity of sASPiH to design and deploy resources to support local institutions involved in SBE. Conclusion This project will inform the development of a national strategy regarding the engagement and encouragement of ECHPs as SBE practitioners. It will also guide the design and deployment of future sASPiH resources to support local centres and regions to assist ECHP development as SBPs for the benefit of students and the institution. Reference Gopal A, Pendleton M, Cox D. 0221 Creating Student Aspih (saspih): Proposed business platform model – establishing a viable, resilient and accountable student branch of Aspih. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning 2014;1:A82–A83.