ASPiH 2012 annual conference: the "challenging"

In simulation-based medical education (SBME) we rarely talk about "what went badly", instead we talk about "what was challenging for you".

From this point of view, a major challenge of the ASPiH conference is its poster display. Although I will not single out individual posters, too many still followed the "we ran a simulation course/day/scenario and everybody felt better afterwards" style. The great Bill McGaghie talks about translational science research. T1 refers to results obtained in the simulation centre, T2 refers to improvements in patient care practices and T3 refers to improvements in patient and public health.

As an example, an SBME course on cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) might show that the participants felt more confident (T1) or were faster at applying oxygen to the mannequin (T1). Following these participants at their workplace might show that they were better/faster/more efficient at CPR than non-participants (T2) and that their patients were more likely to survive (T3).

The ASPiH posters gravitate around the T1 level which I think we should be moving away from. There are barriers to improving the quality of the posters including (perhaps) a desire not to turn down too many posters and the difficulty of showing T2 and T3 evidence. However, future conference organisers should make it clearer that T1 posters will be less and less acceptable. We need to raise our game and ASPiH needs to nudge us along.

(As an aside, T1 evidence which shows major negative effects may still be useful to publicise so that all of us can learn from what not to do.)