The medical simulation blog: A pilot project in Italy

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In Italy, medical simulation is undergoing a phase of intense diffusion, establishing a more decisive and uniform role in medical education. Educators receive many opportunities to train in simulation education, but these provide little room for personal growth and collaboration. This could have a negative impact on education quality and the standardization of processes. Thus, we found a gap in new information technology use, specifically in the informal diffusion of medical simulation content knowledge. Using a blog platform, we identified a space in which people can disseminate information, share their experiences, criticisms, and perspectives.

Approach: From March 2016 to November 2019, we implemented a novel pilot project, creating the first Italian blog on simulations, dedicated to simulation educators. It contained the following main sections: communication, debriefing, simulation experiences, instructions for use, journal club, and psychology.

Findings: Multidisciplinary personnel contributed to the blog’s content. With over 70 posts, the blog accumulated 25,615 pageviews and 9,056 sessions, without promotional, monetary support or diffusion efforts. The average visitor session was 2.17 minutes long and the average pages viewed in a session was 2.83. Additionally, 30.5% of the users were returning visitors and 58.67% found the website through Google.

Insights: Despite the blog’s niche subject, the results were encouraging. The materials were not only meant for personal viewing, but also as a source for announcing public events (meetings and workshops). The project provided educators with an easy tool for continuous education. We believe that it enabled and organized the informal sharing of educational simulation content. As such, it also offered significant insights into formal program consolidation and the standardization of simulation instruction, while we wait for further local scientific literature production. For future developments, we believe that collaborations with other stakeholders, scientific societies, and ethical sponsorship could foster this project’s continuation.

KEYWORDS:

• Simulation
• blog
• social media
• debriefing
• faculty

Acknowledgments

We would show our gratitude to Marzio Carro for the website management and Andrea Dojmi for the blog’s logo creation. We would like to offer special thanks to dr. Roberta Bellesi for her valuable encouragement on this project. This project would not have been possible without all contributors who posted their pearls of experience and wisdom to whom we want to extend our deepest gratitude.

Disclosure statement

We certify that we have no affiliations with or involvement in any organizations or entities with any financial interest (such as, honoraria, educational grants, participation in speakers’ bureaus, memberships, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as, personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.