Challenges of biological realism and validation in simulation-based medical education

摘要

OverviewSimulation, both physical and computer-based, has a rich history in support of medical education. Essentially all these efforts have been aimed at instilling concrete measurable skills, akin to vocational training. They present learners with choices, facilitating a degree of learning by doing. The sets of learner choices are usually limited, with choices clearly classified into “right” and “wrong”. But much of medicine is not much like a multiple-choice test. The realm of choices is broad and not always easily converted to a short list. The “correct” answer is not always known by the experienced physician beforehand, sometimes not even after the die is cast and the future unfolds. Computer simulation of human disease and its treatment can in principle be tremendously useful in the education of both basic and clinical scientists. This paper describes some challenges in the construction of simulation-based “liberal arts” biomedical education.