Simulation: Translation to Improved Team Performance

Traditional medical education has emphasized autonomy, and until recently issues related to teamwork have not been explicitly included in medical curriculum. The Institute of Medicine highlighted that health care providers train as individuals, yet function as teams, creating a gap between training and reality and called for the use of medical simulation to improve teamwork. The aviation industry created a program called Cockpit and later Crew Resource Management that has served as a model for team training programs in medicine. This article reviews important concepts related to teamwork and discusses examples where simulation either could be or has been used to improve teamwork in medical disciplines to enhance patient safety.