Simulation in Healthcare (SIH) was recognized by the National Library of Medicine...
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It is commonly held that no hospital, medical school, or other health professional training institution lacks a simulation center, a simulation-based educational program or simulation equipment. However, the extent to which simulation is available and used at medical schools and teaching hospitals has not been systematically assessed. To address the need for an “epidemiology” of simulation, the Association of American Medical Colleges is working in cooperation with SSH, the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE), and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to create an inventory of simulation activities at AAMC-member institutions (LCME-accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools and teaching hospitals).

The inventory's specific objectives are to determine which of its member institutions have ongoing simulation activities, how long and to what extent schools been using simulation, and how simulation is being used. The AAMC hopes that the results will help the educational community define the prevalence of simulation, share information about other institutions' activities, and support research on simulation. The hope is to publish findings by fall of 2010.

Representatives from each organization have met twice at the AAMC as the steering committee responsible for drafting a general questionnaire that will be circulated before the end of 2009. Committee members are: Mary Cantrell, Michael DeVita, and Kristina Stillsmoking for SSH, Wendy Gammon, Gayle Gliva-McConvey, and Tamara Owens for ASPE, Julie Anderson for AACN, and Grace Huang, Morgan Passiment, Robby Reynolds, Heather Sacks, and Michael Saleh for AAMC. The questionnaire is expected to be completed by a staff member at an institution's simulation center or the person at the institution responsible for simulation education.

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