ASPiH standards for simulation-based education: process of consultation, design and implementation

Standards are paramount for any practice specialty trying to improve performance. Setting a standard provides a benchmark from which to measure progress. Prior to entering clinical practice, medical professionals must demonstrate through testing and performance that they have acquired the knowledge and skills to meet a set of expected actions and abilities for their specialty. This is what helps to define each specialty, and the profession creates the assurance that care will be uniform and follow the guidelines put forth by its accrediting bodies. Now, given the work done by the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH) and others, simulation-based education (SBE) is better able to demonstrate to all who rely on it—students, educators, employers and patients—that consistency and quality can be achieved in this educational delivery and methodology. Leaders from the ASPiH should be applauded for their comprehensive review of simulation-based education practice and expected norms for its use in their constituent regions of the United Kingdom. Having accepted and supported reference points provides guidance for the development and sustainability of programmes. While much of what was explored in the process of writing and defining both the standards and the accompanying guidelines reiterates the work conducted by other organisations around the world, the information from this independent review supports and narrows the diversity of independent practice in simulation around the globe and moves one step closer to the revolution predicted by Gaba.1 SimGHOSTS is an affiliated non-profit membership association that focuses specifically on the technical …