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Course Directors are the people who serve as the main point of contact for a course and are responsible for recruiting content experts, facilitators, and working with the OIPS Liaison.  As Course Director, we ask that you take responsibility for adhering to the roles and responsibilities outlined in this document. This document, along with the others mentioned on this page, can be found on the SimUAB® website.

Course Director Requirements*:
Attend the Sim 1 course
Attend the Sim 2 course
*Advanced simulation training, as approved by the Director, may serve in lieu of Sim 1 & Sim 2.

General Information for New & Existing Course Directors:
As many of you know we are an accredited simulation program by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. This has necessitated a clarification of our course development, delivery and review processes as well as the way we go about doing business. We appreciate the work that all of you have done to help us improve the simulations that we offer together. As course director, we ask that you take responsibility for the following activities:

Before the course:
Work with OIPS Liaison to ensure all documentation is complete and updated, courses are scheduled & staffed appropriately and all facilitators have appropriate simulation training. We are working to streamline our course scheduling process.

During the course:
Be physically present or let us know who your on-site designee will be. Help us with collecting data about your event including all of the facilitators who are present.

We also ask that you adhere to the following educational principles and philosophies that underpin quality simulation experiences, which include:

  • Adult Learning Theory - Adult learners are problem-centered and need the opportunity to reflect on their learning experiences.  When designing scenarios for your course, please remember to create realistic situations that are relevant for your learners.
  • Basic Assumption - We believe that everyone participating in activities at UAB is intelligent, capable, cares about doing their best, and wants to improve.  As Course Directors and facilitators of debriefing, we must be curious about the mistakes our learners make in order to determine the learning gap and provide effective feedback.
  • Structured Debriefing - We ask all facilitators to use the SimUAB® Debriefing Guide to ensure consistency and adhere to best practices in debriefing methodology.
  • Fostering a Safe Learning Environment - The willingness of your learners to engage in an effective debriefing will depend on their perception of a safe learning environment.  Please be sure to remind learners that discussions held in debriefing will remain confidential as will their performance.  It is also important to reinforce that it is okay to make a mistake in simulation as we do not utilize simulation for performance assessment.  Thus, OIPS does not distribute video recordings of simulation activities to Course Directors, instructors, nor department directors.
  • High Standards - Because we believe in the Basic Assumption, we hold high standards for all of our learners. This necessitates the delivery of honest and respectful feedback in all of our simulation activities. 
  • Interprofessionalism - As facilitators of interprofessional simulation, it is common to encounter differences in perspective and opinion by those who practice in different areas.  We ask that all Course Directors model professionalism and approach interprofessional differences with respect and curiosity. 

As part of our quality improvement efforts, OIPS regularly records simulation activity as well as debriefings. We use these recordings as a way to provide feedback to our Course Directors and to ensure consistency and quality throughout our program.



Annually:
Work with us to evaluate the course and make improvements. Participate in the annual course review, and provide feedback in the annual program survey. Scheduling of future events will be contingent on completion of an annual review.

Additional Resources:
Please see this page for a listing of all SimUAB® development opportunities

If you have any questions related to Course Director expectations, please contact oips@uab.edu.

To request a course please email oips@uab.edu.