A novel simulation competition format as an effective instructional tool in post-graduate medical education

OBJECTIVE: Medical simulation competitions are a growing reality. This study aims at exploring if a novel format of simulation competition (SIMCUP) can be an effective educational format in post-graduate education. DESIGN: We designed a 2-day event that included scientific educational lectures, an orientation to the competition, familiarization with the simulation lab, and competition time. Day 1 was devoted to preliminary rounds and was structured using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)-like system. On day 2, the first four teams advanced to semi-finals and then to finals, which were held using a classical SimWars style. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: A total of 14 four-participant teams participated in the event over two editions (Ed.1 in 2015 and Ed.2 in 2016). INTERVENTIONS: External referees evaluated both technical and non-technical skills for each simulated scenario. Each participant was also administered pre- and post-test questionnaires covering self-perception about the confidence in managing simulated clinical cases, educational effectiveness, satisfaction with the simulation experience, and previous simulation training. MAIN RESULTS: Overall participants found SIMCUP a useful learning experience, rating it 10 [9, 10] and 10 [7.75–10] out of 10 for Ed.1 and Ed.2, respectively. Participants reported, using a 10-point semantic differential scale ranging from “1 - strongly disagree.” to “10 - strongly agree,” finding both days to be educationally effective: day 1 was rated 9 [7–10] and 9 [8–10] as day 2 was rated 8 [7–10] and 8 [7–10] for Ed. 1 and Ed. 2, respectively. Participants’ self-perception regarding the confidence of managing the specific scenarios significantly improved immediately after the event as measured by pre- and post-questionnaires for all stations and during both editions. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that simulation competition can serve as an effective instructional format in residency training. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s41077-018-0075-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.