LOGISTICS OF CONDUCTING A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS WITH A FULL-SCALE PATIENT SIMULATOR AT A SCIENTIFIC MEETING

Objective. To design and implement the logistics of accommodating a la rge number of participants in individual, hands-on sessions on a full- scale patient simulator during a major scientific meeting or continuin g medical education course. Methods. We used our method during the 11t h World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Sydney, Australia to facilit ate studying the impact of pulse oximetry and capnography on the time taken by anesthesiologists to correctly identify critical incidents on a full-scale patient simulator. Each study participant spent 15 minut es in 4 sections of the study area: the anesthesia and monitoring equi pment briefing room, the simulator briefing room, the simulation room and the debriefing room. Results. There were 113 participants during f ive days (15 during instructor training and 25, 23, 24 and 26 on subse quent exhibit days). We were oversubscribed daily. However, there were 9 no-shows during the 4 days of the study, which generated a particip ant absence rate of 9.2%. The average number of participants over the 4 days of the study was 24.5 per day compared to our capacity of 27 pe r day. The feedback we obtained from the participants about the simula tion experience and the format of the exercise was positive and enthus iastic. Conclusions. We have developed a practical and viable method t hat can be adapted for use at scientific meetings and courses, which i mproves accessibility of individual, hands-on sessions on full-scale p atient simulators to a larger audience than previously attainable. Our method is applicable for continuing medical education courses as well as research purposes in the form of prospective studies during scient ific meetings and courses.