ISL Resources

SSH LogoSociety for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) is the major professional society for simulation in healthcare..  SSH conducts the largest annual international scientific congress on simulation in healthcare – the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (held yearly in January, alternating between the Eastern and Western United States).  Dr. Gaba, the Associate Dean for ISL and Director of CISL, is a founding member of the Board of Directors of SSH.  Dr. Halamek, the Director of CAPE, was elected to the Board of Directors in 2005.

Advanced Initiatives in Medical Simulation (AIMS) is a 501c6 trade organization that is heavily involved in educating policy-makers in government and the healthcare industry about the importance of simulation in healthcare for the future of quality and safety in healthcare.  AIMS holds a yearly symposium in Washington D.C. that is combined with an exhibition of simulation activities and products on Capitol Hill. AIMS also drafts model legislation and conducts liaison activities with legislators and policy-makers.

AIMS LogoCISL – representing Stanford University School of Medicine – is a founding member of the AIMS along with CIMIT at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Gaba is a member of the AIMS governing Steering Committee and the Treasurer of the AIMS 501c6 Board of Directors.  Other Stanford personnel are members of the AIMS Steering Committee, including Dr. Krummel and Ryan Adesnik, Stanford’s Director of Federal Affairs.

Simulation in Health Care LogoSimulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare In January, 2006 the Society for Simulation in Healthcare began publishing the first (and currently the only) peer-reviewed scientific publication devoted to simulation in healthcare. This journal, published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins for SSH, is titled simply:  Simulation in Healthcare. Dr. Gaba is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, making CISL the home of this new endeavor.

 

Simulation in Healthcare will be the first and premiere journal dedicated to publishing on the use of simulation for education, training, performance assessment, and research in health care. As such, the core areas of interest for the journal will include (but not necessarily limited to):

  • Immersive and simulation-based training, and education and/or performance assessment, for diverse target populations, domains of healthcare, professional disciplines of healthcare, levels of experience, types of knowledge or skill, types of simulation, etc.
  • Research about simulation techniques and technologies, the pedagogy of simulation, and influence of cognitive science on the use of simulators
  • Research that uses simulation techniques as a tool to study such things as human performance of clinicians and teams, cognitive science of clinicians and teams in clinical environments, human machine interactions in clinical environments
  • Review papers and theoretical pieces about:

    • The “science” of simulation, such as computer science, haptics, mathematical modeling, algorithms, hardware
    • Cognitive science and human factors issues of human performance in healthcare environments that are of relevance to simulation for education, training, testing, or research
    • Pedagogy, including instructional design, experiential learning Health policy or organizational structure and behavior or related to the application, adoption, and use of simulation in the health care industry Psychometrics of performance assessment and testing
  • Laboratory reports and case descriptions of specific techniques or scenarios to make the conduct of simulations more effective or practical
  • Book reviews, letters to the editor, and calendars of upcoming events of interest to Society members

I am proud to serve as the founding Editor-in-Chief for Simulation in Healthcare. I have been conducting research on simulation since 1986 and have published numerous papers in this area. Like many other pioneers in simulation, I can attest to the difficulty then, and even now, in being understood by editors and reviewers steeped in biomedical knowledge, but not in the intricacies of “building” ersatz human beings, training diverse (and sometimes unruly) clinicians, and assessing performance in scenarios meant to replicate some of the most stressful and emotionally challenging of clinical situations.

We have assembled an outstanding multidisciplinary and international Editorial Board with diverse representation from many different domains and disciplines of healthcare. From the Editorial Board, we have chosen four eminently qualified individuals to serve as Associate Editors. All of the members of the Editorial Board are experts in different aspects of simulation in healthcare. In addition, we have assembled a cadre of highly qualified peer-reviewers, who along with the Editorial Board will be responsible for a publication that is rigorous in its peer-review, mindful of the unique challenges of research and scholarship on simulation, and dedicated to advancing the field with new knowledge and understanding. We pledge that the review process for submitted manuscripts will be fair, thorough, and timely. We strive for a balance of articles that are scientifically sound, innovative, and fresh. We look forward to publishing our new journal, and hope that the readers equally look forward to reading each issue avidly as it is released.

-- Dr. Gaba