July 23, 2020By Lance Baily

Listen Up: Medical Simulation Podcasts Are Moving Healthcare Education Forward

Healthcare Simulation Podcasts are providing unique and fascinating content that directly supports the evolution of the methodology across the entire healthcare industry. Here today we share about four of the most prominent podcasts created by expert clinical simulation champions from around the world, with topics that focus on the technical to the administrative and everything in between. These useful medical simulation podcasts are perfect listening material for those on the go — so bookmark them on your favorite audio medium today!

CAE Healthcare Clinical Debrief Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Amar Patel, DHSc, MS, NRP, CHSE, FSSH, Chief Learning Officer of CAE Healthcare, this new podcast focuses on the future of healthcare simulation as argued, debated and discussed by leading voices, pioneers and experts in the field was recently unveiled to the global community. Entitled “Simulation Debrief”, the audio journey is organized by Dr. Amar Patel, former hospital simulation center and innovations executive director, researcher, lifelong emergency services educator, firefighter and paramedic. Founder and past chair of the North Carolina Simulation Collaborative, Dr. Patel is a simulation expert and much-published key opinion leader with 60+ abstracts, articles and textbook chapter publications to date. Dr. Patel has most recently held the position of executive director of WakeMed Innovations at WakeMed Health & Hospitals, having been responsible for healthcare innovation, idea generation, innovation investments, technology-based educational programs (such as patient simulation and online learning), and simulation-based research. Visit the CAE Healthcare Simulation Debrief page to listen in now!


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Starting just this year with an exploration of COVID-19 with an interview with President of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare Bob Armstrong, the series has already explored topics such PTSD, augmented reality, mental health, simulation ROI, digital Learning, certification, barriers to entry, patient outcomes, and so much more. Recent episodes include:

EPISODE 5, The COVID-19 balancing act — Mental health, telehealth and the next generation: In Episode 5, Amar Patel speaks to Dr. Tara Bastek, a neonatologist, bioethicist and simulation educator with a Master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard University.Currently serving as Chair of the Medical Ethics Committee and Associate Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for WakeMed Health, Dr. Bastek offers her views on isolating with family, where to find factual information and the COVID-19 impact on society and healthcare.

EPISODE 14, Cultural Considerations in Simulation and Debrief: In each educational encounter, the culture of the individual, instructor, group, institution and the patient scenario all play a role. In this podcast, Amar Patel reconnects with Janice Palaganas, PhD, RN, NP, ANEF, FNAP, FAAN, FSSH, who completed a study on cultural considerations in debriefing with Drs. Kim Leighton and Albert Chan and shares some of their initial findings. She is Chief Executive Officer of The Institute for Interprofessional Innovations, Associate Director of Healthcare Professions Education at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, where they have launched the first PhD in Health Professions Education with a focus on Simulation and another in Interprofessional Education. She also is Principal Faculty at the Center for Medical Simulation and faculty for Harvard Medical School.

EISODE 15, Diversity and inclusiveness in EMS education: Where do we go from here? Dr. Amar Patel speaks to Jennifer McCarthy, a leading paramedic and EMS educator, about mindfulness in EMS practice, overcoming hidden bias in teaching and scripting scenarios, and the importance of breaking bread to promote cultural understanding. Jennifer is also Director of Clinical Simulation at Seton Hall University and Founder and President of 579 Solutions.


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One Million Lives – A Laerdal Podcast

The One Million Lives Podcast by Laerdal includes inspiring interviews in the advancement of helping save lives. Recent episodes include:

Episode 1: What is the future of OSCEs? The Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) has been a standard for assessing student performance in healthcare education. The COVID-19 Pandemic, however, forced many institutions to change their traditional approach to OSCEs. Often considered the father of the OSCE, listen to Ronald M. Harden, MD, OBE, make the case that the OSCE is still relevant despite a changing educational context.

Episode 2: Can Patient Simulation be used for Continuous Improvement? Patient simulation is most typically used as a means for educating and training individuals and teams. Many institutions, however, are now using simulation to continuously improve systems. This can lead to improved patient safety, care efficiency, and systems improvement breakthroughs. Victoria Brazil, MD is an emergency physician and educator at the Emergency Department of the Gold Coast Health Service, Australia. Hear her share how simulation can lead to system-wide gains.

Episode 3: Does Patient Simulation Work? Evidence shows that simulation-based training works. But there is always a human element involved. And so, the real question becomes what features in simulation-based training can make simulation effective? There are fundamentals that are essential for success. Ross Scalese, MD, is an expert on simulation fundamentals. He is a Professor of Medicine and Director of Educational Technology Development at the Gordon Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Here are insights into what makes patient simulation successful.

Avkin’s Simulaton Nation Podcast

The new Simulation Nation podcast for Healthcare Simulationists by Simulationists is hosted by Amy Cowperthwait CEO, RN, MSN, CNS, CHSE-A and Megan Weldon, CHSE. Simulation Nation is here to make simulation as simple as possible. We know the headaches that you are seeing in your simulation center and we want to help alleviate problems by giving you guides on simulation writing, moulage, standardized patients, new technology and more!

Northwestern University’s Simulation in Healthcare Education Podcast

In this podcast series, the team at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine focuses on key topics in healthcare simulation education. The first several podcasts focus on the book, Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Mastery Learning in Health Professions Education, published by the Northwestern Simulation team in 2020. Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, MS, leads the discussions by highlighting key issues about principles and practices of simulation-based mastery learning with chapter authors and book editors. Podcast listeners are free to reach out to the Northwestern Simulation team via email at simed@northwestern.edu.

With other 100 episodes “in the can”, the Australian-based SIMULCAST hosted by Dr. Victoria Brazil MBBS, MBA, Jesse Spurr RN, and Dr. Ben Symon MD and primarily covers three key areas: Direct Interviews, Journal Club and Advances in Simulation. The Journal Club provides deeper dives into important clinical simulation research articles, exploring the lessons learned usually with the paper’s authors for a direct and powerful perspective. Advances in Simulation furthers the exploration of simulation research work but is more specific to the SESAM ‘Advances in Simulation’ journal. Finally, the direct interviews provided by the SIMULCAST team either online or in-person at medical simulation conferences around the world, offers unique perspectives from leading experts on a vast range of topics important to successfully running simulation activities. There is even an interview in Episode 11 with HealthySimulation.com and SimGHOSTS.org Founder Lance Baily where he parallels building realistic simulation scenarios to his work as a film producer! Visit the SIMULCAST website for the podcast and accompanying blog!

Victoria Brazil is an emergency physician and medical educator. She is a senior staff specialist in Emergency Medicine at the Gold Coast University Hospital, where she is active in clinical teaching across the continuum of medical learners. She also is the medical director of the Gold Coast Simulation Service – a leader in ‘in situ’ simulation and in using simulation for quality improvement outcomes. Jesse is a Nurse Educator in the Emergency Department. His history includes working as a Clinical Nurse Consultant in ICU, Hospital and Health Service Learning and Development manager, Critical Care Nurse, Simulation Educator, and along with post graduate qualifications in critical care nursing he is also an Exercise Science graduate. Benjamin is a Peadiadtric Emergency Physician and Simulation Educator at Queensland Health. Recent episodes include:

Episode 103: Simulation or Simulacrum: Can Simulation Be Too Real? Can this ‘hyper-reality’ actually have negative impacts on learning? Vic takes a deep breath and dives into theory with the team from Queens University Belfast, including Jenny Johnston, Helen Reid and Gerry Gormley. We discuss their recent Medical Education article – Into the uncanny valley: simulation versus simulacrum? Eve Purdy joined the chat to offer her unique anthropological perspectives. If you’ve ever felt slightly uncomfortable with OSCEs or breaking bad news to a plastic mannequin, this might help you understand why…..

Episode 107: Simulcast Journal Club Monthly Podcast June 2020: This month’s paper was Lack of Diversity in Simulation Technology by Conigliaro et al from Simulation in Healthcare. Vic and Ben were joined by Jess and our special guest and this month’s expert commentator, Dr. Karanjot Lall (@KaranjotLall). See the summary here. We spoke about the paper’s findings – the predominance of white-skinned mannikins in advertising materials – and how simulation might instead be able to contribute to antiracism and better representation of traditionally marginalized groups. We also highlighted Debra’s Nestel’s recent SESAM keynote on a similar topic and recommend this as additional viewing!

Episode 100: Advances in Simulation, Living the Title With New EIC, Gabe Reedy: Dr. Gabe Reedy has been announced as the new Editor in Chief for Advances in Simulation. Vic speaks with him about his background, his vision for the journal, and the role of journals in supporting healthcare workers, simulationists, and academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. He gives tribute to Professor Debra Nestel, the outgoing EIC, and tells us he aims to ‘live the title’ – aiming to be advancing the field – for scholars and practitioners. Simulcast looks forward to our continued collaboration with Gabe and with Advances.

National Patient Safety Board’s ‘Up Next for Patient Safety’ Podcast

The ‘Up Next for Patient Safety’ podcast series engages with experts in healthcare and technology to examine the best paths to guarantee patient safety. Listeners will hear from national thought leaders about the leading solutions to existing problems that are possible right now. The podcast has the capacity during the “once in a century” pandemic to gain the attention and support of a nation to address the current and ongoing errors and adverse events that cause unnecessary illness, death, and long-term disability.

University of Illinois’s Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute (SAIL) “Beyond Simulation” Simulcast

A Hi-Fidelity Podcast: Each day, all over the world, thousands of healthcare learners experience the power of simulation. BS-Beyond Simulation, explores the stories of the people behind these masterfully implemented simulations. Find out the REAL story of how these connoisseurs got into simulation and why they stayed! This is the “behind the music” podcast for the world of simulation.

The Sim Cafe

Hosted by Deb Tauber, this podcast shares discussions on innovative ideas for healthcare simulation and expanding the use of clinical simulation in medical education. Tauber and guests also discuss current trends in healthcare simulation.

Up Next for Patient Safety By National Patient Safety Board Coalition

This podcast untangles the components of safer healthcare. Hosts engage in conversations with experts in healthcare and technology to examine the best paths to guaranteeing patient safety. Hear about different solutions to existing problems that are possible right now. The goal is to address those current and ongoing errors and adverse events that cause unnecessary illness, death, and long-term disability.

USF Health Interprofessional Education and Practice Podcast

The USF Health Interprofessional Education and Practice podcast focuses on collaboration, team resilience, interprofessional education and practice. Healthcare Superteams explores how to build, maintain and motivate super teams, by learning best practices from experts in and outside of healthcare. Join us as we discuss interprofessional topics and trends brought to you by the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice at USF Health. New episodes are published every month via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Pandora and Spotify.

SimGeeks Podcast

Also new with 12 episodes, is the SimGeeks Podcast by two awesome Simulation Technicians William Belk FP-C, a clinical education manager in the HEMS industry and David Shablack NRP, CHSOS, Simulation Operations Specialist at Orbis Education and Cofounder of Simulation Tek. Their goal is to address all things simulation in a relaxed and entertaining format. With the unique perspective of healthcare simulation technology operators, this podcast deep dives into all things operations related, from manikin disinfection to moulage secrets, and from MCI scene prep to 3D printing — this is certainly one for the simulation “geeks” out there. Recent episodes include:

Episode 11: To Death Do Ue Part a Debate on Patient Death in Simulation – In this SimGeeks episode the guys debate whether or not allowing the manikin to die in a simulation is an acceptable practice… but wait there is more! The one and only Ed Rovera joins the cast to play moderator and occasionally drop some hardcore truth bombs about death in simulation!

Episode 10: Cleaning and Disinfecting Simulation Labs During COVID-19 –  With special guest SimGHOSTS Board member Nick Brauer, the guys discuss cleaning and disinfecting your lab and everything in it. COVID19 is very much a concern for everyone involved in healthcare right now but the information contained in this episode will remain relevant long after the current pandemic has slowed.

Episode 8: Moulage Basics – This episode dives into several pigment based makeups that we enjoy using ranging in price from a few bucks up to the professional level products. Application methods are also covered at a variety of price points from cotton swabs to airbrushing.

Center For Medical Sim Podcasts

With multiple podcast shows, the Center for Medical Simulation provides a dynamic range of audio listening topics for simulation in healthcare champions with a multitude of interests. Also with over 100 different episodes, the different shows include DJ Simulationistas, Brief Debriefings, Critical Conversations, Book Club, SimFails, as well as the new COVID Chronicles. The show is produced by Harvard’s Center for Medical Simulation staff which includes Mary Fey PhD, RN, CHSE-A, ANEF, Jenny Rudolph PhD, Janice Palaganas PhD, RN, NP, FSSH, ANEF, FAAN, and Dan Raemer PhD. Visit the complete list of the Center for Medical Simulation’s podcasts on Soundcloud here.

On “DJ Simulationistas… Sup?” Janice Palaganas and Dan Raemer, CMS faculty and thought leaders in the field of healthcare simulation, discuss the pressing issues in the field, interview expert guests, tell jokes, and dissemble on a variety of topics.

“COVID Chronicles” with Jenny Rudolph is a just-in-time podcast checking in with friends and colleagues from the front lines of healthcare, the home front, and other unique perspectives on learning and connecting in the time of coronavirus.

“Brief Debriefings” are short conversations with CMS faculty, friends, and alumni of our courses about the problems they are facing in healthcare and simulation, and how they’re working on and moving forward their work. Listen for a taste of the CMS debriefing method.

“Critical Conversations with Mary Fey” relates to the book by Mary and Sue Forneris Critical Conversations: The NLN Guide for Teaching Thinking and teaches how to grapple with this problem in three arenas: clinical teaching, nursing simulation teaching, and classroom teaching.

In the long running “CMS Book Club”, now recorded for public consumption, members of the CMS team and faculty discuss new and old books touching on the realms of difficult conversations, learning and feedback, management, and critical care.

Finally, in “SimFails”, Janice Palaganas, Kirsty Freeman, and Marcus Rall discuss their failures in simulation and the lessons they’ve learned from them in this limited series of eight episodes.

‘Bundle of Rays’ Podcast

Since March 2020, Brad Chesham has been helping to produce the “Bundle of Rays” podcast. These podcast episodes are available on YouTube and share insights into immersive healthcare education delivered through cloud-based platforms and face-to-face consultancy.

HSL S1E5: A Spooktacular Episode on Moulage with Special Guest David Shablak

The HSL Simulation Webcast hosted a special episode of HSL Simulation WebCast with friend and frightening guest David Shablak (Moulage Specialist, Co-Host of SimGeeks and Simulation enthusiast). Shablak shares some moulage techniques, supplies, do’s and don’ts, as well as a demo of a cut/abrasion on a simulator.

Redesim Podcast

This podcast presents different guests from healthcare simulation to exchange educational experiences that have been generated with the implementation, development, and innovation of simulation-based teaching, in addition to promoting good training practices across medicine and patient safety. Learn more about this podcast on the Redesim website or listen on Spotify.

Sim Nurse NZ Podcast

Sim Nurse NZ is an inclusive and multidisciplinary podcast about all topics in healthcare simulation. Join Erin, Alison and Marie the three nurse educators from the Douglas Starship Simulation Programme in New Zealand as they discuss everything simulation through a “how to” and nursing lens.

French Podcast SIM Moove from Fouad Marhar: Bonjour à tous et bienvenue dans SIM Moove, le premier podcast de simulation en santé en Français, en collaboration avec le magasine SimZine. A travers chaque épisode de cette série, nous tenterons de mettre en lumière les acteurs et les initiatives qui font la simulation d’aujourd’hui et de demain dans le monde francophone. Et comme toujours merci de votre intérêt pour la simulation en santé.

The Simulation Operative



Welcome to the Simulation Operative where we discuss best practice and quality measures in the business of healthcare simulation operations with topics ranging from educational learning theories, business development and simulation technologies. Each episode is 15 minutes or less.

PROMPTCast Podcast

On the 27th of November 2023 we launched our new PROMPTCast podcast, hosted by PROMPT core team members – Dr Katherine Lattey (Obstetrician) and Siân Harrington (Midwife). Join us for the PROMPTCast! PROMPT (PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training) provides training for maternity units; helping midwives, obstetrician, anaesthetists and other maternity team members to be more safe and effective. Whether you’re interested in maternity care, multi-professional training or want to hear what we’ve been up to we hope there’s something for everyone. This Podcast is designed for healthcare professionals.

Other Recommendations and Submit More Podcasts

If you find these podcasts interesting you will also probably really appreciate KeyLIME Podcasts, The Short Coat Podcast, and the MedicCast too! Have another podcast to add to the list? Email us and let us know!


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