Simulation Fellowship

Application Fees

  • Application fee is $400 at the time of submission.
  • Annual fee of $150 for years 1 and 2.
  • Annual fee of $200 for year 3 and beyond.
  • Please make check payable to "SAEM" and reference "Administrative Fellowship Application."
  • Checks can be mailed to: SAEM, 1111 East Touhy Ave, Suite 540, Des Plaines, IL 60018 or faxed using the credit card form [pdf] to (847) 813-5450.

New Application Deadline: September 30, 2022 (then March 31st annually afterwards)

Renewal Application Deadline: September 30th annually

  • Renewal applications are due the 3rd year after initial application is approved.
  • Subsequent renewals are due every 5 years.

How to Submit

All applications and evaluations must be submitted through the online portal by 5pm Central Time on the deadline. If the deadline falls on a holiday or weekend, applications will be accepted on the next business day. 

 

You can download a copy of the application form questions.

Please note, you must submit applications through the online portal. Emailed copies of an application will not be accepted. 

Annual Reports

(Non-research fellowships only)

Annual Fellowship Evaluations are required of approved programs on March 31st each year. The annual evaluation will ask you to list graduating fellows. Please make sure to complete this form in order for your fellows to receive their certificate.

 

Institution Application

Approval of a fellowship is contingent upon a review of the institutional environment, success of prior graduates and current members of the faculty fellowship team, and proposed curriculum for future fellows. All approved institutions must have an ACGME approved emergency medicine residency and support for simulation programs in place.


Criteria for Approval

Description of General Program

They must demonstrate strong collaboration with clinicians, educators, and researchers as well as with other clinical services that supervise relevant rotations. This support may frequently be provided by collaboration with existing simulation fellowship programs in the institution. If such a program is not available for collaboration at an applying institution, careful attention will be given by reviewers to ensure adequate support is available including the opportunity for mentorship from faculty with an expertise in simulation. While the actual fellow is not required to be an emergency medicine physician, the administration of the fellowship must be under the purview of a department of emergency medicine. 

A site visit and/or interview may be requested at the discretion of the SAEM Fellowship Approval Committee members. Initial approval of a fellowship is for a period of three academic years (July 1 – June 30). At the end of the initial period, programs with demonstrated success can apply for renewal of approval every five years. Approved programs must communicate to the committee annually any changes in emergency medicine simulation fellowship personnel. In the event of the departure or replacement of the program director, a secondary review will be required.


Essential Elements for an SAEM-Approved Fellowship in Simulation

An emergency medicine simulation (EM-Simulation) fellowship should prepare the fellow to become a leader in the creation and implementation of simulation-based education. By combining hands-on training and theory, the fellow will gain expertise in a variety of debriefing strategies, simulation modalities, and immersive learning methods. In addition to acquiring strong clinical simulation and teaching skills, fellowship graduates should also attain the professional skills necessary to run a department-based simulation program and analyze/contribute to simulation-based scholarship.

With that goal in mind, an approved EM-Simulation fellowship will encompass the following six domains:

1. Simulation Theory – Understanding the core tenants of simulation, including foundational research and established best practices, is critical to the development of a simulation-based educator. Fellows will also explore current trends in simulation and areas of controversy through hands-on experience, didactics, mentoring and involvement in the larger simulation community.

2. Curriculum Development – Creating an immersive learning session or a larger simulation-based curriculum requires familiarization with instructional design strategies, implementation, and assessment methodologies. Fellows will be mentored in gaining expertise in each stage of this curriculum development process.

3. Simulation Fellowship Teaching and Career Development - Fellows are expected to acquire skills in a variety of debriefing strategies as well as gain exposure to basic teaching methods which may be incorporated into simulation-based medical education. Furthermore, they will be guided in how to prepare for a post-fellowship career.

4. Technical Operations and Techniques - The graduating fellow should be able to expertly perform the technical skills necessary to run a simulation-based scenario. They should understand the nuances of various types of simulation, including human patient simulators, task trainers, screen-based simulation, manikin-based simulation and virtual reality. The fellow should demonstrate application of skills in determining the optimal simulation modality and be facile in using a variety of methods and tools to deliver educational content.

5. Simulation Directorship & Administrative Milestones - Graduating fellows should have the expertise necessary to lead a simulation program. They will gain leadership skills and management skills to direct both a departmental simulation program and a center-based program.

6. Simulation Research and Scholarship – Understanding the role of simulation in education research and quality/patient safety research is critical for all EM-Simulation fellows. Fellowships without a formal focus on simulation research will prepare the graduate to assess and critique simulation-based literature and will mentor fellows through the creation and implementation of a scholarly project. Fellowships with a focus on EM-Simulation research will include additional, formal training in proposal writing and review, research methodology, project implementation, and manuscript production. Upon graduation, all fellows will be able to critically appraise simulation-based literature. Fellows who choose to engage in formal simulation research will have the foundational skills necessary to succeed in all stages of research.

To be approved, fellowships may be one or two years in length.

To meet the standards for an approved emergency medicine simulation fellowship, the following curricular elements (core content) must be addressed. All fellowships and graduating fellows must address the core components listed below. Programs without direct access to certain components of these elements, such as virtual reality, simulation center administration or research, must identify other means of familiarizing fellows with these topics.

1. Simulation theory

  1. Theoretical basis of team-based interprofessional health education, patient safety and systems improvement
  2. Conceptual framework/foundations of simulation based medical education
  3. Foundational literature described as landmark simulation articles for both individuals and interdisciplinary groups
  4. Current topics in simulation-based education

2. Curriculum Development

  1. General curriculum design principles
  2. Instructional systems design and curriculum development
  3. Integration of simulation into existing training programs
  4. Assessment tools used to evaluate simulation participants
  5. Assessment strategies for simulation-based curriculum
  6. Procedural and cognitive skill acquisition and maintenance

3. Teaching and Career Development

  1. General teaching skills
    a. Feedback delivery
    b. Learner expectation setting
    c. Role of simulation in faculty and staff development.
    d. Interprofessional teamwork education/training, crisis resource management, and communication skills.
  2. Debriefing strategies and frameworks
  3. Career Skills
    a. Development of curriculum vitae and/or educator’s portfolio
    b. Mentoring and networking

4. Technical Operations and Techniques

  1. General simulation creation and implementation
    a. Appropriately pair simulation equipment with session objectives
    b. Implementation of simulation training from curricular design through assessment
    c. Simulation-based training scenarios for special populations
    d. Team training using crisis resource management
    e. Simulation for patient safety training initiatives
  2. Specific simulation modalities
    a. Human patient simulators
    b. Partial task trainers
    c. Computerized simulation technology
    d. Virtual reality
    e. Hybrid simulation
  3. Specific simulation methods
    a. Alternatives to post-event verbal debriefing (including deliberate practice, mastery learning, rapid cycle deliberate practice, video debriefing, etc)
  4. Specific simulation uses
    a. Team Training (using crisis resource management or other established tools)
    b. Patient safety initiatives
    c. Special populations
    d. Outcomes/Assessment methods (including high stakes assessments)
    e. High-risk communication

5. Simulation Directorship & Administrative Milestones

  1. General simulation program administration training
  2. Simulation center administration training

6. Simulation Research and Scholarship

  1. Participation in a clearly defined scholarly project
  2. Exposure to research methodology in simulation-based research
  3. Policy writing and review
  4. Proposal writing and review
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