Medical education, a dynamic process which commences at the start of basic medical education and continues until a health care worker retires from active practice, is at crossroads in India wherein we must look for both quantity and quality. To ensure the high standards of medical education, National Medical Commission (NMC), has stressed the importance of proficiency in clinical skills by medical graduates rather than mere acquisition of knowledge.
To impart skills simulation-based learning is yet to be utilized to its full potential. Simulation based medical education serves as an alternative to the real patient, without the fear of distressing the patient. With the availability of high-fidelity stimulators, all the clinical scenarios may be reproduced in the simulation Virtual Laboratories (SVL). During simulation, individuals acquire clinical skills as well as non-clinical skills i.e., communications, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary team work etc.
Medical simulation offers numerous potential strategies for comprehensive and practical training, and safer patient care. For Simulation based learning to be an effective skill learning tool, there is a need of an interdisciplinary approach, allocation of resources for establishment of SVL, identification of dedicated manpower. Many of the Government/Private institutes have pioneered in SVL based medical education. In coming years, Government may also lay down policy to standardise Simulation Virtual Laboratories andamp; Simulation Based Medical Education (SBME).
