Since 2005 the American College of Surgeons have supported a network of simulation centers in the form of the Accredited Education Institutes (ACS-AEIs). These centers must meet a standard - offering the highest-quality surgical education and training as well as continually foster cutting-edge scholarship within their facilities/programs.
The authors of this landmark survey, published in the November edition of Surgery, combed through 337 best practices from 247 accreditation reviews between 2011 and 2019 to identify common themes, log them in a database and produce eight larger themes present in successful simulation centers. Themes identified included: approaches to faculty development; scholarly activity; development of curricula; use of resources; delivery of educational content; assessment of learners; and collaboration between centers.
In Overarching themes from ACS-AEI accreditation survey best practices 2011–2019(link is external) the authors state that,"our goal was to supply a message that communicated aspirational practices in a compiled format that could be used to promote best practices and guide the program directors and administrators of the simulation centers as they improve their practices as an ACS-AEI within the Consortium."
Authors: James Cooke MD, Alexis Thomas-Perez, Deborah Rooney PhD, Catherine Sormalis BS, Robert Rege MD, Ajit K. Sachdeva MD
James M. Cooke, MD
