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Award Information

This section contains further detail about the ASPIRE 'Simulation' Award. 

Please take the time to go through this content thoroughly to familiarize yourself with the application criteria and the expert panel involved in the process. Understanding these elements is crucial for a successful application. 

At the end of the content, you will need to fill out the web form to generate the invoice. Completing this form is an essential step in your application process, as it will allow you to proceed with the payment for your selected award. Make sure to provide all the required information to ensure a smooth and efficient processing of your request.

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About the award

Definition

Simulation in healthcare education is a “technique, not a technology that replaces or amplifies real experiences with guided experiences that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive manner” (Gaba 2004). Simulation may include a range of technologies and educational contexts that include but are not limited to: simulated (standardised patients), simple and partial task trainers, full body patient mannequins, virtual reality, augmented reality, haptic, hybrid models, and simulated environments. An institution that has achieved excellence in healthcare simulation education ensures it is well-designed (embedded in appropriate educational theory), and integrated into the curriculum, uses it as an adjunct to patient or health systems care training and/or assessment experiences, and provides for outcome driven measures that are continuously evaluated for quality and improvement.

Scope

An applicant institution or organisation may have a single centralised simulation program or a decentralised series of simulation activities aimed at enhancing standards of teaching/education, faculty preparedness, and scholarship. These may include programs and activities for:

• teaching and assessing clinical and procedural skills;
• promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
• fostering communication and teamwork;
• introducing and promoting interprofessional learning and practice;
• developing patient safety, healthcare systems, and/or cultural awareness;
• individualising (“precision”) care and public health;
• exploring healthcare systems science and practice.

Cultural, geographic, social, fiscal and other issues may influence how healthcare simulation education is delivered at an institution and will vary among institutions. Excellence may be identified and recognised in institutions with limited resources just as much as in “resource-rich” institutions. The way in which institutions demonstrate context appropriateness will be taken into account by the panel when reviewing each submission.

Application process

Applicants should describe the entire scope of the institution’s simulation programs in the application summary and specify whether the application will include the whole series of simulation programs or focus on a specific simulation program that prepares learners for clinical practice. The program(s) should include a focus on undergraduate and graduate entry healthcare education, but may also include those involving postgraduates and practicing clinicians. The school’s specified program(s) will constitute “the program of healthcare simulation” for the ASPIRE program application and be assessed using the criteria for excellence.

Conceptual framework

Excellence in healthcare simulation may be seen as the product of three components (Figure 1): organisational framework (curricular institutionalisation), training resources and educational use, faculty and support personnel expertise. This framework will be used to map the criteria of excellence in healthcare simulation education to continue to facilitate institutions to “aspire” and achieve excellence in all four domains.

• Organisational framework (curricular institutionalisation) includes elements necessary for full adoption and integration of simulation-based medical education into an institution’s mission and culture. It involves the decision of an institution to fully embrace its goal of improving patient care and patient safety through reducing and preventing medical errors, as well as more individual goals of teaching and assessing across a wide range of competencies.
• Training resources and educational use refers to incorporating appropriate simulation methodologies that meet an institution’s needs. In addition, it includes having the necessary physical space and support resources for simulation-based training. It also encompasses best evidence justification for, and application of, the associated curricula, learning strategies and outcome measures.
• Faculty and support personnel expertise includes healthcare professionals trained in the proper use of simulation-based education. It also includes administrative and technical individuals involved in the operation, management, and administration of simulation-based training, as well as researchers dedicated to advancing the field.

Expert Panel

• Debra Nestel (Chair), Australia
• Ignacio de Moral, Spain
• Luke Devine, Canada
• Barry Issenberg, USA
• Nancy McNaughton, Canada
• Leizl Joy Nayahangan, Denmark
• Augusto Scalabrini Neto, Brazil
• Ross Scalese, USA
• Cathy Smith, Canada

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the panel chair for an informal discussion before beginning their application. The examples provided by the reviewers are shown below under the respective criteria. These examples are intended to be indicative and not exhaustive. You may have other evidence that would be equally important and which support your case for excellence. 

Criterion 1

Organisational Framework (Curricular institutionalisation): 

The institution’s healthcare simulation education program has clear goals that are aligned with its organisational priorities and objectives, is systematically designed, and serves the educational mission of the institution.

Examples of Evidence

• Narrative description of the institution’s simulation-based education program goals, how the program facilitates targeted priorities of the institution (and national, international), and/or if not aligned with institutional priorities then how it works to improve the educational climate.
• Narrative description of the curriculum development model, theoretical framework and evidence used to design simulation-based education. Provide an example(s) of how the model was applied to design and/or implement a horizontally and/or vertically integrated training program.
• Narrative description of how the program addresses the overall aim to improve educational practice.

These examples are provided by reviewers and are intended to be indicative rather than exhaustive. You may have other evidence that would be equally important and which support your case for excellence.

Criterion 2

Training Resources and Educational Use

The institution’s simulation healthcare program incorporates appropriate simulation methodologies that meet its institution’s needs. In addition, it includes having the necessary physical space and support resources for simulation-based training. It also encompasses evidence-based justification and application of the associated curricula, learning strategies and outcome measures.

Examples of Evidence

• Narrative description of the process used to align its simulation training resources (space, equipment, simulation device(s), support technology) and methodologies (individual, team-based, immersive) to its defined training needs.
• Narrative description of demonstrating that simulation training activities are grounded in best practices or proven conceptual frameworks for education. Provide an example of how the framework was applied to guiding simulation activities (scenario development, practice sessions).
• Narrative description of how the program develops and/or uses outcomes measures with evidence for their construct validity. Provide an example describing a rigorous process for demonstrating validity evidence when using an assessment instrument for trainees.
• Narrative description of how the program uses structured (best evidence) feedback and debriefing methods (it has either developed or adopted) as part of the simulation-based learning process. Provide specific example(s) of feedback and/or debriefing techniques that are used in simulation activity or program.
• Narrative description of the formal process used to evaluate the simulation program including identifying the model / framework used (these can be national or international standards / criteria). Provide an example (in the form of a summary table or executive summary) of such a process used for one or more of the simulation programs.

Criterion 3

Faculty and support personnel expertise

The healthcare simulation program ensures that its faculty and support personnel have demonstrated expertise in simulation-based healthcare education. This not only includes professionals trained in the best evidence use of simulation-based medical education, but also includes individuals involved in the operation, management, and administration of simulation-based training, and researchers dedicated to advancing the field.

Examples of Evidence

Narrative description of the recruitment, selection and preparation of simulation faculty and staff for their role and how they are supported by the institution to advance their own scholarly and professional development, including keeping up-to-date with developments in the field. Describe formal training that faculty must undergo for using simulation for training and/or assessment; (workshops, courses (face-to-face, online), seminars, certificate, diploma, degree).

Narrative description of the recruitment, selection and preparation of faculty to carry out simulation-based health care research and how they are supported by the institution to advance their own scholarly and professional development. Describe formal training that faculty must undergo for using simulation for research purposes.

Ready to apply?

Before deciding to submit an application, we recommend that you spend some time discussing the application criteria and required evidence with your team. If you have any questions, please reach out to us prior to submitting your application.

Pricing

The standard charge per submission is £2,500 for each Area of Excellence to be assessed. This is reduced to £2,000 per submission for two or more submissions in the same twelve-month period. The charge for institutions from emerging economies is £1,500 per submission, and £1,250 for two or more submissions in the same calendar year. View the list of emerging economies to see if your institution is eligible. Payment must be received before submissions are sent out for review. Resubmissions are accepted within three years of the original application, with a charge of £2,000 for a resubmission.

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