Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Faculty Development Workshop to Enhance Debriefing Skills Among Novice Facilitators

Introduction Effective debriefing during simulation-based training (SBT) is critical to promote learning outcomes. Despite debriefing’s central role in learning and various published debriefing methods and techniques, little is known about faculty development structure for debriefing training among novice facilitators. Continuing medical education courses often use simulation-based methods but provide minimal training in debriefing techniques to novice facilitators. We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a structured debriefing training workshop for novice facilitators. Methods Designed and conducted by simulation debriefing experts, a debriefing workshop was provided to novice facilitators serving as faculty during the simulation-based Sedation Provider Course (PC) at the 2018 Society of Pediatric Sedation conference. Emphasizing evidence-based key elements of effective debriefing, the workshop was divided into three components: 1) an introductory 30 minute didactic, 2) 75 minutes role modeling of simulated effective and ineffective debriefing 3) 120 minutes repetitive deliberate practice sessions with summative and formative feedback. Effective transfer of learned debriefing skills was assessed during facilitators’ PC debriefing using the Objective Structured Assessment of Debriefing (OSAD) tool, facilitators’ self-efficacy, and PC student learners’ evaluation of facilitator debriefings during the PC. Results Sixteen facilitators participated in the 4-h workshop and the next day served as PC faculty. The median OSAD score was 31 (13-40) for all facilitators. OSAD components with lowest and highest performance were “Establishing Learning Environment” with a median score of 1 (1-5) and “Engagement of Learners,” with a median score of 4.75 (2.5-5). Facilitators' self- assessment in debriefing significantly improved on the 5-point Likert scale pre- and post-workshop, respectively. PC student learners’ evaluations revealed high degrees of satisfaction with debriefing quality. Conclusions A proposed model integrating full-length debriefing and repetitive practice paired with summative and formative feedback provides a feasible and effective approach for debriefing training of novice facilitators for simulation-based educational courses.