The practice of simulation-based assessment in respiratory therapy education

Clinical simulation has gained prominence as an educational approach in many Canadian respiratory therapy programs and is strongly associated with improved learning, clinical and nonclinical skill, future performance, and patient outcomes. Traditionally, the primary assessment approach employed in clinical simulation has been formative debriefing for learning. Contextual factors, such as limited opportunities for learning in clinical practice and technologically oriented perspectives on learning in clinical simulation, are converging to prompt a move from using formative debriefing sessions that support learning in simulation to employing high-stakes testing intended to measure entry-to-practice competencies. We adopt the perspective that these factors are intricately linked to the profession’s regulatory environment, which may strongly influence how simulation practices become embedded with respiratory therapy educational programs. Through this discussion we challenge the profession to consider how environmental factors, including externally derived requirements, may ultimately impact the effectiveness of simulation-based learning environments.