Using Simulation-Based Learning with Standardized Patients (SP) in an Implicit Bias Mitigation Clinician Training Program
By: Jennifer Tjia et al
Submitted by: Marsha Harman, Rush Center for Clinical Skills and Simulation

This article describes the design, implementation, and response to a simulation-based training program on implicit bias awareness and mitigation skills. Two aspects of this undertaking really stood out to me. First, the SPs were recruited from the local community and were involved in case development to ensure that the scenarios were realistic and relevant to the community's needs.  Second, the program creators revised the structure of the program based on participant responses to create a more safe environment and a more robust learning experience.

Research and education faculty at an academic medical center used a participatory action research approach to engage local community members to develop and refine a “knowledge, awareness, and skill-building” bias recognition and mitigation program targeting medical residents and Doctor of Nursing Practice students. The two-session training included didactics about healthcare disparities, racism and implicit bias; implicit association test (IAT) administration; skill building for bias-mitigating communication; and case scenarios for skill practice in simulation-based encounters with standardized patients (SPs) from the local community. Community partners and SPs who engaged throughout the design and implementation process reported overall positive experiences, but SPs expressed the need for greater faculty support during in-person debriefings following simulation encounters to balance power dynamics. Initial-year trainee participants reported discomfort with intensive sequencing of in-person didactics, IATs, and SP simulations in each of the two training sessions. In response, the authors restructured the program to include more interactive discussions focused on identity, race, and ethnicity, and strategies to address local health system challenges related to structural racism.

Read the full article in the Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development here.

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