Medical skills were previously acquired by supervised practice in an apprenticeship system. Due to decreasing patient availability, the increasing demand for a rapidly growing number of complex and potentially hazardous procedures, and the rising number of trainees, the opportunity to become competent in a medical skill using traditional training methods is diminishing.
Procedural training utilising simulation has many advantages:
- Patient involvement in the early acquisition of a skill is minimised
- The skill can be practiced repeatedly without patient harm
- Skills reinforcement by expert feedback is facilitated
- Training is student rather than patient focussed
- Training can be tailored to individual skills needs
- The skill set can be controlled with more efficient training
- The need for fortuitous clinical training opportunities is eliminated resulting in faster acquisition of skills