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UAB Simulation Fellowship

Applications accepted July 1 - November 15

(special circumstances may apply)

Overview

Simulation is important in health professions education and training. Teamwork, communication skills, crisis resource management, and core clinical skills can be integrated into simulated patient care scenarios and used as an effective tool for learners to perfect infrequent and high-stakes patient care that impacts patient outcomes.

The UAB simulation fellow serves in a hybrid clinician/educator/scholar position. Fellows must be eligible to be hired as faculty within a Heersink School of Medicine Department such as Anesthesia and/or Emergency Medicine. Fellow duties include the clinical care of patients in either Emergency Medicine (general) or Anesthesiology within the UAB Health System in addition to increasing simulation capabilities in the areas of program delivery, operations, and leadership. The fellow will have protected time to develop a scholarly project based on individual interests in the field of healthcare simulation and will be encouraged to attend and present his or her simulation work at regional, national, and/or international simulation conferences.

Upon completion of the simulation fellowship program, the graduate will be prepared to assume a leadership position in delivering and managing a healthcare simulation program. Fellows will also have the opportunity to develop expertise in the educational, administrative, and research aspects of a simulation program. The simulation fellowship at UAB Health System is a one-year non-ACGME accredited fellowship.

Program Advantages

The UAB Simulation Fellowship is currently offered jointly through the UAB Clinical Simulation program of the UAB Health System and the Office of Interprofessional Simulation (OIPS). Simulation plays an important role in the educational process of our Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, and many other departments and divisions.

The Clinical Simulation and OIPS teams include a diverse group of faculty and staff including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, educators, biomedical engineers, audio-visual specialists, and individuals with expertise in web design, operations, and finance. The Fellow’s development in all aspects of healthcare simulation is our priority. Clinical Simulation & OIPS are involved with simulation modalities across the entire spectrum including task trainers, standardized patients, high-fidelity manikins, hybrid and virtual reality. This depth and breadth combination will allow the Fellow to have a well-rounded experience and be prepared for a career in healthcare simulation.

Together under the SimUAB® trademark, Clinical Simulation and OIPS offer nationally-recognized facilitator development courses and other specialized simulation opportunities. Fellows will have the opportunity to complete these faculty development courses during their fellowship. Course topics include designing simulation scenarios, the embedded simulation participant, debriefing basics, advanced debriefing, facilitating interprofessional debriefing, facilitating procedural skills, and facilitating in situ simulations. The core simulation faculty at UAB have completed their initial and advanced instructor training at the Center for Medical Simulation. These core faculty members have a combined total of over 25 years of experience in the field of simulation. Additional faculty and staff from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and the UAB Health System work with the Fellows in a wide range of educational sessions throughout the year to ensure development in all areas.

Program Design

The Simulation Fellowship at UAB Health System has a well-developed curriculum with clear goals and objectives.

Simulation Fellowship Goals:

  1. To train the Fellow in evidence-based simulation methodology
  2. To expose the Fellow to innovative and up-to-date simulation technology
  3. To develop a knowledgeable and experienced simulation expert capable of establishing themselves as a leader in the field of simulation

Educational Objectives: By the end of the fellowship, the Fellow will have demonstrated:

  1. Expertise in case development/scenario building
  2. The ability to effectively debrief learners from a variety of disciplines
  3. The ability to appropriately interact with learners as an embedded participant
  4. Expertise in the use of a wide variety of healthcare simulation equipment, training devices, and moulage
  5. The ability to implement or integrate a formal simulation based curriculum into existing training programs
  6. Expertise in the principles of Crisis Resource Management and the integration of these principles into simulation scenarios

In a typical week, the Fellow will have the following time commitments:

  • 8-16 hours of clinical care, depending on specialty
  • 16-24 hours of simulation development, implementation, and/or facilitation
  • 8-16 hours of simulation research / administrative duties

Fellows will be expected to work an average of 1-2 clinical shifts per week in their area of clinical expertise with the details to be worked out with the participating departments/divisions. These clinical duties will allow the opportunity to maintain clinical skills as well as provide realistic material for development of authentic simulation scenarios.

Required Texts:

  1. Levine AI, DeMaria Jr S, Schwartz AD, Sim AJ, editors. The Comprehensive Textbook of Healthcare Simulation. New York, NY: Springer; 1st ed. 2013, Corr. 2nd printing 2014 edition (March 21, 2014).
  2. Nestel D, Kelly M, Jolly B, Watson M. Healthcare Simulation Education: Evidence, Theory, & Practice. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd;2018.
  3. Palaganas J, Maxworthy J, Epps CA, Mancini MB, eds. Defining Excellence in Simulation Programs. New York, NY: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins; 2014.

Fellows will have regularly scheduled readings from the required textbooks (above) and from select peer-reviewed manuscripts. An electronic compilation of select peer-reviewed manuscripts focusing on healthcare simulation/education will be provided upon entry to the program. Fellows will be required to participate in a regularly occurring simulation journal clubs where manuscripts from recent literature will be discussed with the UAB simulation facilitator community.

Fellows will be expected to complete a scholarly project during their fellowship year.

Application Process

Fellowship applicants must be board-eligible/board-certified in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine and/or Pediatric Emergency Medicine and eligible for an appointment as an attending physician in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, or Pediatric Emergency medicine in the UAB Health System.

Letters of recommendation from the applicant’s residency program director and division director/chairman are required. Both letters must be dated, signed, and on institutional letterhead. A curriculum vitae and a one-page personal statement are also required to complete the application. Additional documentation may be required depending on the specialty involved.

Applications are accepted from July 1st through November 1st. Interviews will be conducted from October 1st through December 15th. Fellowship position offers are typically announced in late December for a July 1 start date the following year. Only those individuals with completed application packets will be considered for an interview. Applications outside the regular admission cycle will be reviewed and special circumstances can be taken into consideration.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact us at simuab@uab.edu