Abstract:

A flight simulator without models of the airplane and flight conditions would be considered an absurdity, yet only a relatively small part of the medical simulators on the market are driven by models of human physiology and pharmacology. In this webinar, Dr. Willem van Meurs will share his expert insights on the significance of – and challenges with – models in medical education. Clinical signs and monitored signals on model-based simulators evolve and respond to interventions automatically, without intervention by a simulation instructor or technician. This makes simulations more realistic and consistent and reduces the workload of the facilitators. This is of particular importance in the acute care context, where there are only “seconds to decide and minutes to execute”. The programming of clinical scenarios is also greatly facilitated in model-based simulators, because only a limited set of underlying physiological quantities have to be manipulated, and the models will again respond automatically. The diversity of patient profiles and conditions makes the modeling of these systems more challenging, but recent advances in the design and validation of physiological models mitigate these challenges. This webinar will cover the principles of modeling physiological processes and how they are applied to design effective educational simulations. Attendees will thereby gain insight into the evolution of this important simulator technology, its impact on medical training, and the specific applications in various medical fields.

Learning Objectives:

1. The importance of correct physiological responses in medical training.
2. How models facilitate scenario programming.
3. How models are constructed and validated.
4. Understand challenges in model-driven simulation.
5. Experience an example of effective educational simulations based on physiological models.