“Sim Bricks” @sim_brick is an anonymous account on X (Twitter) which uses Lego to generate discussions around topical healthcare simulation subjects for the international clinical simulation community. Sim Bricks was established in 2021 and is a phenomenal and playful resource for those dedicated to a standard of excellence in healthcare simulation based education. As a long time fan of Sim Bricks, Erin Carn-Bennett, MN, RN was honored to interview Sim Bricks anonymously through their X direct messages. This article will include the conversation captured as well as the amazing graphic Sim Brick made especially for HealthySimulation.com!
What inspired you to make the Sim Bricks account?
“Very simply… to have fun! We are a fun group at Sim Bricks, and we want to share the joy with our simulation community. We celebrate what is good and recognize the great work that takes place in the field of simulation. If we can be informative through our posts and, at times, help our followers reflect on how to improve their simulation practice – that’s the icing on the ‘simulation cake.’ As for the ‘Lego-graphics’ – we believe everyone has a creative side, but we often don’t get the chance to exercise these skills. So, the Lego-graphics make sense (it also helps that we are lifelong Lego fans!).”
What is your main mission?
“We are free spirits at Sim Bricks, and for us, the word “mission” sounds a little corporate. There has never been a better time to have moments of fun and joy in our lives. We hope to provide our simulation community with some of those moments. We’ve enjoyed the Sim Bricks journey so far… and we’ll see where the simulation community takes us in the future. In the meantime – let’s enjoy the Sim Bricks ride!”
What is the story behind the name?
“We would have liked the name ‘Sim Brick,’ but that was taken – so ‘Sim Bricks’ it is. In due course, we may share the names of the actual simulation figures you see drop into your timeline each week. As for our name, ‘Bricksy’ (i.e. the creators of Sim Bricks)… this is a homage to the genius of the famous artist ‘Banksy.’”
View the LEARN CE/CME Platform Webinar The Surprising Truth About Emotional Intelligence in Clinical Simulation Debriefing to learn more!
What type of content do you share, and how do you decide what to post?
“We like to take a broad approach with our content. The only rules we follow are that it should be fun, kind, colorful, inclusive and informative. Often we have creative ideas and turn them into Lego-graphics. We also like to share posts that we hope are useful and relevant to the simulation community. We want to celebrate the great work our community is doing. However, we firmly believe that theory and evidence should drive our work. Therefore, we tend to post content that relates more to the theory underpinning good simulation practice. Simulation is a resource-intensive form of experiential learning, so it’s important to use theory to make wise, informed choices. Finally, we are Star Wars fans… so that features in a lot of our posts. But aren’t we all Star Wars fans?!”
What has been your most popular post?
“There have been numerous popular posts, but the one that stands out is our post on cognitive load theory . We think this speaks to our community’s desire to embrace and support theory-informed practice.”
What is your favourite post so far?
“Oh, that’s a tough question. We love them all! But if one stands out… it has to be our Valentine’s Day post. We do love a good poem at Sim Bricks!”
What feedback have you received so far?
“Twitter, now X, has changed; it’s become more toxic and isn’t the place it used to be. We considered mothballing Sim Bricks, but our community asked us to stay. So far, we’re still here. The positive comments help motivate us to keep going. As always, Sim Bricks is run by volunteers. We don’t collect any fees or income – we simply do it for the joy and to bring a little fun to followers’ timelines.”
Have you noticed any trends since starting Sim Bricks?
“Yes! We’ve seen our followers gain a greater appreciation for the theory that underpins simulation. They’re going beyond the allure of technology and gaining a deeper understanding of the theory that drives good simulation. I hope we’ve played a small part in this trend.”
Have you had any interesting guesses about your identity?
“Indeed, we know that some people know who Bricksy is, but they appreciate what we do and keep Bricksy anonymous. We’ve thought about revealing Bricksy’s identity, but for now, we think it’s best to stay anonymous. Perhaps we’ll change our minds in the future!”
Any future goals?
“Keep having fun! The day we stop having fun is the day we’ll mothball Sim Bricks. We hope people enjoy what we do. When the joy is gone, Sim Bricks will be too.
One thing we’d like to do is some ‘live Lego-graphic’ creation – reacting in real-time during online conversations with a live Lego-graphic. We did this last year, and it was popular. Stay tuned!”
What do you hope people take away?
“Good question. We hope followers feel they are part of a wonderful community that is here to do good. We want to celebrate the great work we all do and spread some fun along the way. If we can promote some aspects of the theory underpinning simulation – that’s a bonus.”
This interview has been a chance to learn more about the wonderful international healthcare simulation community artistic offer from Sim Bricks on X. Sim Bricks is an anonymous X account which playfully uses Lego to generate conversations about the latest topics in healthcare simulation. Their identity for now remains anonymous, however the fun around the guesses of who this brick inspired Banksy like offering will continue. The depth to the Sim Bricks posts is quite profound if inspected closely. There are also a number of clues to their identity in their posts too!
