Medical simulation, a training process in which medical practitioners use realistic artificial environments to practice medical skills and procedures, is currently the subject of a bill before congress related to enhancing federal support for simulation initiatives nationwide.

On May 28, 2008, in Washington, D.C., Academic Emergency Medicine will be sponsoring a national research consensus conference entitled, “The Science of Simulation in Healthcare: Defining and Developing Clinical Expertise.” The conference, to be held on the day before the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting, is designed to apply broadly across specialties and disciplines.

An expert panel of cognitive scientists and educators will serve as keynotes to help guide the discussion, which begins with special remarks from the President of the American Board of Medical Specialties. The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, the Association for American Medical Colleges’s MedEdPORTAL, the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, and over 30 medical organizations/academic departments nationwide are providing funding support, along with unrestricted educational grants from major simulator manufacturers.

“Medical simulation provides a unique forum for health care providers to train and practice medical skills in a risk-free environment where no harm can come to the patient,” says Dr. James A. Gordon of Harvard Medical School, who is co-chairing the conference with Dr. John A. Vozenilek of Northwestern University. “Enhanced federal support would provide significant opportunities for improving patient care and safety initiatives nationwide.”