gms | German Medical Science

Michael St. Pierre, Georg Breuer (eds)

Simulation in der Medizin – innovativ, effektiv und zukunftsweisend

Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Year of Publication: 2013

ISBN-13 978-3-642-29435-8

The book, Simulation in der Medizin – innovativ, effektiv und zukunftsweisend published by Springer-Verlag, has appeared at precisely the right time. The medical schools in the German-speaking countries – Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – have come to know and value the benefits of simulation-based education in recent years. National catalogues of learning objectives exist for Switzerland and Austria, and currently one is being compiled for Germany. The efforts made by the medical faculties to implement these objectives now often end in otherwise lesser known prestige projects. Behind these are many creative and educational ideas that take effect without notice and that should be looked at closely. This is precisely the topic taken on by this multi-author work: the topic of simulation in and for medical education is scrutinized from all sides while shuttling between what is of useful value and what could use academic revision.

Even though the structure of the chapters is not always accessible ad hoc (at times the reader wished for information on subjects which were then extensively explained in later chapters), it does follows a stringent logic appropriate to the subject. To begin with, environmental variables (room, equipment and financing) are presented as they relate to each other, before the activities of teaching and learning via simulation are covered. The important factor of the actual person in the simulation and comprehensive information on the interdisciplinary aspects in the practice of simulation (interprofessionalism would certainly not have been too far-fetched) are concluded with an essay-like retrospection and outlook regarding simulation.

What would not have been possible as a monograph is achieved by multiple authors: the first and very likely only German-language overview of simulation in all of medical education is well done, quite reasonably so with a slight emphasis on anesthesiology. At the same time, other fields do not come up short at all. In line with the medical licensure act, the possibilities for using simulation in the clerkship subjects are covered specifically: internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and gynecology are mentioned here. Special aspects such as medical service with the German armed forces or mobile in situ simulations demonstrate not only examples of use in anesthesiology and intensive medicine, but also the range of application in its broadest sense. Specifics ranging from equipment to space-conserving storage of ready-to-use mannequins (figure 18) are also addressed, as are questions dealing with professional fees for actors (section 11.3.6). Enriched with practical tips, the book covers the complex issue of appearance rather than what actually is and gives even seasoned instructors a chance to reflect on their own actions.

The only flaw is a missing chapter to survey the effectiveness of simulated intervention. The readers are left to form their own opinions using the varied references in the book to the literature.

Summary: Those who find simply “doing” to be insufficiently thought-out for the most part and the “thin air” of theories not pragmatic enough will find a well-conceived mix of information about simulation that is waiting to be discovered and implemented on a large scale.

The author declares that he has no competing interests.