Title of Workshop: "One for All". Simulated and Standardized Patient Methodology: Bridging from the fundamentals to advanced levels of expertise

A two-day Pre-Conference Course on SP Methodology by ASPE (2014)

The Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) is an international organization for professionals in the field of simulated and standardized patient (SP) methodology that was set up in 2001. The mission of ASPE and its members is to promote and support the development and advancement of SP education and research.
ASPE is pleased to partner with APMEC for an innovative, two-day pre-conference workshop covering fundamental and advanced SP methodology.

Course Faculty
Prof Karen Szauter, Medical Director, Standardized Patient Center, University of Texas Medical Branch (USA)
Dr Mara McAdams, Medical Director of the Clinical Performance Centre, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (Singapore)
Ms. Gayle Gliva, Director, Sentara Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning, Professional Skills Teaching and Assessment,Eastern Virginia Medical School (USA)
Dr Nicola Ngiam, Director of the SP Program at the Centre for Healthcare Simulation, YLL School of Medicine (Singapore)
Ms Hor Chuen Yee, SP Educator of the SP Program at the Centre for Healthcare Simulation, YLL School of Medicine (Singapore)
Dr. Jan-Joost Rethans, Director of SP and Communication Skills programme at theSkillslab, Maastricht University (The Netherlands)

Dr. Szauter, Ms Gliva and Dr. Rethans have served as board members of ASPE and have wide international experience in working with SPs and SP educators.

Course level
The course is open to all interested colleagues. The workshop format will allow the faculty to tailor material to those with little experience in SP methodology as well as to those with more advanced SP expertise.

Course content/intended outcome of the 2-day course
The course offers parallel sessions for fundamental and advanced levels in the following topics:

• Case writing
• SP feedback
• SP training techniques
• Quality assurance of SPs

In addition, examples of electives offered are:

• Research: how to start SP research in a scholarly way
• Consult the Experts: an opportunity to discuss your own SP research ideas
• Literature review of SP-related research topics

Course format
The workshop will combine large group discussions with small group breakout sessions. The small groups will be organized according to the participants’ level of experience with SP methodology and their interests.  This format will allow those with greater expertise to progress from a more advanced starting point than those who are new to SP-based education.  SPs will be available during the course for demonstration and skills training.
The workshop will be presented using three learning formats.

1. Short plenary sessions:  Short, didactic plenaries in a large group setting will introduce and explore a selected, core topic.  These topics will then be further covered according to the expertise of the participant during smaller group break-out sessions.
2. Break-out sessions: Small group, break-out sessions will continue after the plenary topic and focus on specific issues targeted at the fundamental and advanced levels.
3. Elective sessions: Elective sessions are stand-alone topics that are accessible to all according to their interest.  These sessions will allow for networking and sharing across skill levels. 

After subscribing for the course, participants will complete a short survey indicating their interest in selected topics. The final workshop programme will be refined to match these interests.

The following diagram illustrates how the workshop will alternate between core plenaries and small group sessions. 

Cost: $500USD per participant