Integrarion of simulation in the didactic year of a physician assistant program

Abstract

Supplementing didactic education with simulation improves students' understanding and application of clinical skills. This literature review covered 26 articles which examine physician assistant, medicine, and nursing schools' use of simulation. Simulation includes the use of high fidelity manikins, standardized patients, or low-fidelity case studies. Medical and nursing schools currently use simulation as a teaching tool for evaluating and training students. The use of simulation in physician assistant (PA) education has increased recently due to the successful integration of simulation in the training of medical students. The scope of PA training's utilization of simulation should be in line for what a PA will eventually be expected to master once in practice. The outcomes in the literature shows that when simulation is applied in the training of physicians, nurses, and most recently PA's, students are better prepared for clinical practice. The literature recommendations aim to achieve optimizing simulation use in PA education.