Simulation-sugmented education is emerging as a potential solution to address the critical shortage of clinical education opportunities for learners in the rehabilitation professions.  However, its cuurent application and uptake within rehabilitation professional education remains largely unknown.  We set out to:

1) determine the extent, range and nature of simuation-augmented education research in the rehabilitation professions and,

2) identify gaps in the literature on the use of simulation-augmented education strategies in the rehabilitation professions.

In the rehabilitation professions, research has primarily focused on studies of the role and effectiveness of simulation-augmented interventions play in assessment.  Longitudinal and process-oriented studies are urgently needed to bolster support for the use of simulation in educating rehabilitation professionals at both pre-licensure and post-graduate levels of training.  

Education program developers & researchers: the use of models that examine curricular processes will be useful for framing future studies and program evaluations to examine how simulation can enhance learning experiences in the rehabilitation professions. 
 

Licensing and accrediting bodies: developing and publishing educational criteria or standards will help to improve the rigour of future research studies, and program design, implementation, and evaluation processes of educational programs in the rehabilitation professions. 

We conducted a scoping review of published and grey literature.  Using a program evaluation framework,¹ data from included studies were collated and summarized to describe the extent, range and nature of simulation-augmented education in rehabilitation.

Thirty-five references fit the inclusion criteria and underwent data extraction.  The primary objectives for which simulation-augmented strategies were employed included:

1) Expertise development

2) Formative and summative evaluations

3) Enhancement of course work and curricula

There lacked published literature concerning the longitudinal impact and process-oriented outcomes of these strategies and as well as the perspectives of licensing and accrediting bodies. 

Alkin, MC & Christie CA.  (2004).  The evaluation theory tree.  (In Alkin, M.C. (Eds), Evaluation Roots: Tracing Theorists' Views and Influences.  Chapter 2.  London: Sage Publications)