
First professional development intensive course offered nationally and globally; designed to raise the bar in simulation research
The way Janice Palaganas sees it, the quality of healthcare simulation research has been subpar, and the level of rigor low, for far too long. As Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation Research at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, Palaganas knows of what she speaks because her team analyzed 1,290 research articles on in-person simulation-based education before coming to this conclusion.
“It’s really because clinicians are too often put in a position that, to be promoted or help meet the mission of their institution, they need to have a certain number of articles or authorship,” said Palaganas, who has 24 years of healthcare simulation education experience. “But most clinicians aren’t trained to be researchers and are trying to find ways to conduct research and to publish. So, there's this plethora of poorly done research that's been done over and over again, just completely reinvented every single time, and not really building upon anything. It becomes a disservice to the field. We could discover a lot more if we just knew what was out there in the literature, if we did thoughtful research, if we create research agendas, and if we built upon what was already done.”
It’s time for that to change. Palaganas and the Center of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation are launching a new course designed to help clinicians, researchers, and simulationists learn how to do more thoughtful research that builds upon what's already out there.
The Healthcare Simulation Research Course is the first professional development intensive course in this subject area. The online component offers flexibility and is inclusive as a public offering where students don’t have to be enrolled in a degree program at the MGH Institute.
The course is designed to be a toolbox for how to start doing research effectively. In a four-month window, students will receive a comprehensive overview of healthcare simulation research, be equipped with the capabilities to evaluate assessment challenges, perform effective literature searches, formulate strong research questions, have a foundation of different methodologies, and learn alongside experts.
“You can ask anyone in simulation research, and they will say, ‘I wish this course existed when I first entered research’ because we guide them through all of the steps and give them tips in between. That leads to a more rigorous process.
“The course is meant for physicians and academicians who are in the simulation space because they either are very interested in research or need to have publications for promotion and that's important to them,” said Palaganas. “It's meant for any simulationist who is interested in or being pushed to do research in some way.”
Those who enroll will have access to a who’s who of healthcare simulation experts, among them:
Aaron W. Calhoun, MD, FAAP, FSSH
Professor, University of Louisville; Physician, Pediatric ICU, Norton Children Hospital
Board of Directors, Society for Simulation in Healthcare
Suzan (Suzie) Kardong-Edgren PhD, RN, ANEF, CHSE, FSSH, FAAN
Assoc. Prof., Health Professions Education, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Fellow, Society of Simulation in Healthcare
Jared Kutzin, DNP, MS, MPH, RN, FSSH
Assoc. Prof. of Emergency Medicine and Medical Education, Mount Sinai
President-Elect, Society for Simulation in Healthcare
Debra Nestel, PhD, FSSH
Professor, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health
Editor-in-Chief, BMJ Simulation & Technology Enhanced Learning
Janice C. Palaganas, PhD, RN, NP, ANEF, FNAP, FAAN, FSSH
Founding Director, Center of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation Research
Principal Investigator, REBEL Lab, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Jill Sanko, PhD, ARNP, CHSE-A, FSSH
Adjunct Assoc. Prof., Health Professions Education, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Co-Director of Virtual Simulation Scholars Program, Society for Simulation in Healthcare
MARK W. SCERBO, PHD, FHFES, FSSH
Professor, Old Dominion University
Editor-in-Chief, Simulation in Healthcare
As well as experts in statistical analysis and library sciences.
Palaganas says these experts can help students raise the research bar and avoid what occurs regularly: published articles that cannot be replicated because there isn’t enough information or research that doesn’t control for confounding variables.
“There are certain things that come up during the research process that you're not going to find in textbooks,” reminded Palaganas. “Tips that you learn by actually doing it, and as we do it together in the course, those things can come up and we can share our knowledge with students.”
While there are degree programs available in healthcare simulation research, this four-month condensed course is designed to get burgeoning researchers and simulationists started off on the right foot while bridging what’s missing in textbooks and websites.
“We provide not only the skeleton, but the meat in each of the key areas all together in a four-month condensed course,” said Palaganas. “By the end, students will know and understand their own resources and where they can independently run their own research. Textbooks can tell you what to do, but you actually have to understand: Who is your network? Who are your key players? Who are your mentors within your institution? Who are the right people to approach? How do you approach them? What's feasible research? What topics actually align with your institutional mission that can help you be successful at being a researcher? What can lead to better funding? What library resources you do you have? What statistical packages do you have at your fingertips? All of that is not in a textbook, but this course, we really get them to explore that on their own, so that by the end of the course, they know how to conduct their own research.”
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