High-fidelity Simulations Offer a Paradigm to Develop Personal and Interprofessional Competencies of Health Students: A Review Article

Purpose: Simulation instruction is an effective method to help health professional students develop personal and interprofessional competencies. The purpose of this review was to summarize the literature on high-fidelity mannequin simulation using methods that develop various personal and interprofessional competencies of health students in profession-specific and interprofessional health settings. Method: This review was conducted using 10 databases, and articles published in English from January 2008 through January 2018 were reviewed. Keywords and terms from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] thesaurus were used to create keyword combinations. Of 95 articles that resulted from this search, 44 research studies were chosen for the review. Results: High-fidelity mannequin simulations improved students’ personal and professional competencies in profession-specific environments by 13%-63% depending on the profession. Students acquired knowledge, learned to think critically, and developed self-confidence in implementing clinical skills in practice across different health professions. High-fidelity mannequin simulations also enhanced students’ team-based competencies in interprofessional environments by 7% to 25%. They developed mutual respect, recognized roles and responsibilities, learned to work as a team, and communicated interprofessionally. High-fidelity simulations boosted students’ gain in competencies across undergraduate and graduate programs. In three studies, high-fidelity mannequin simulations did not show superiority over standardized patients, paper/pencil scenarios, and low-fidelity simulations. Conclusions: High-fidelity mannequin simulations offer a paradigm for achieving different competencies across undergraduate and graduate programs and can complement conventional (i.e., lecture-based) instruction. Whereas conventional instruction allows for immediate knowledge gain, high-fidelity mannequin simulations enhance long-term knowledge retention and development of interprofessional competencies. The paradigm is suitable for developing interprofessional team-based skills. Limitations included self-reported data, instruments that lack construct validity, and reduced strength of evidence.