Every year the National Medical Simulation Competition “SimChallenge” gathers students fascinated by the opportunity of learning with the use of simulation. During the two-day competition the participants perform practical tasks consisting in helping a patient in a state of sudden threat to life in hospital or non-hospital conditions. This year the contestants worked with both phantoms and people trained to simulate patients with various disease symptoms, social backgrounds, emotional states and behaviors based on scenarios designed by the hosts of the event. In total, students took part in six clinical scenarios. These involved a wide range of medical issues: from stabilization of the patient’s condition injured in a road accident to detoxication. The simulated cases required students to demonstrate medical knowledge, ingenuity and teamwork skills. Those contestants who waited for their turn to exercise participated in workshops in ultrasonography. They were conducted by teaching staff from the 1st and 2nd Clinics of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy of the Clinical Center of the Medical University of Warsaw.
The competing teams included representatives of the faculties of medicine, medical rescue, nursing and obstetrics from the largest medical universities in Poland. The competition scenarios were designed to involve the whole interdisciplinary teams. Each student team had about 20 minutes to complete their task. They were assessed in terms of technical and “soft” skills by a jury. Specialists from various fields of medicine assessed the team’s approach to the “patient”, the soundness of their decisions, and cooperation between the team members, among other things.
- Simulations are a form of education that is an important contributor to the acquisition of practical skills and soft competences of medical university students. It is a dynamically developing teaching method indispensable in the process of modern education. The competitions, which have been organized for several years, not only popularize medical simulations among members of academic communities but also promote sports-like rivalry between students - said Dr. Marcin Kaczor, Head of the Medical Simulation Center of the Medical University of Warsaw.
Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw extended honorary patronage over the event.
