Developing the military GP using immersive simulation in specialty training

Abstract

Military general practice requires wider knowledge and more diverse skillset than that defined by the Royal College of General Practitioners curriculum. Following completion of specialty training, military general practitioners (GPs) were returning from mostly civilian training environments feeling deskilled and ill-prepared for their military role. The Academic Department of Military General Practice defined the training gap and used co-creative curriculum development to incorporate military topics throughout the GP specialty training programme. Simulation was identified as a key teaching method employed throughout undergraduate and postgraduate health professional education, which could be used to improve the trainee’s learning. The resulting operational preparedness training week used layered teaching methods and feedback to build trainees’ knowledge and skills before a final major immersive simulation exercise. This article describes the educational design process in terms of the ‘10 goal conditions’ described by Issenberg for high-fidelity medical simulations leading to effective learning.