When the coronavirus pandemic swept through the U.S. at the start of 2020, it forced the partial or complete closure of medical simulation training labs for healthcare students. Now, over a year later, COVID-19 is still ravaging the world and delaying the return to work, school, public events, and other activities. 

Unfortunately, the longer students remain out of the lab, the more their education suffers. Healthcare simulation is a vital tool for teaching our future medical professionals valuable clinical, communication, decision-making, and teamwork skills. With that thought in mind, many simulation labs in Los Angeles, CA, and across the U.S. are considering reopening. 

However, before doing so, your lab needs to set guidelines and policies in place to protect the health and safety of students, staff, and instructors. If you’re ready to get your sim lab back up and running, keep reading to learn four considerations for your reopening strategy. 

Expose medical trainees to the types of situations they’ll be facing in the real world

Simulation-based education is an advanced tool for educating and training a new generation of doctors and nurses. Medical simulation technology uses a combination of AV components, advanced simulation software, and life-like training manikins to create hands-on, interactive scenarios that medical and nursing students are most likely to face in real life. Medical schools, teaching hospitals, and nursing programs in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S. are coming to realize the unique benefits simulation-based education brings to the medical field.

Among other training purposes, simulation labs are used to train students in three common healthcare scenarios where students can benefit from hands-on practice: emergency medicine simulation, surgery, and clinical exams. Keep reading to learn more.