Although this year’s SIMPO Simulation Symposium was only the fourth edition, it also marked the first half-decade of operation of the Simulation Center at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University.
Masaryk University’s Faculty of Medicine continues to strengthen its position in the field of simulation medicine. On Wednesday, September 10, under the leadership of Professor Petr Štourač, Head of the Department of Simulation Medicine, another edition of the simulation symposium took place in Brno. Once again, the event welcomed over a hundred participants interested in medical simulations, including educators, healthcare professionals, and representatives from the commercial sector. From the opening remarks, it was clear that this year’s SIMPO was not only about the future, but also about celebrating five years of experience at the Simulation Center of the Faculty of Medicine (SIMU).
Before the local experts shared their insights, the floor was given to two prominent international speakers - Dr. Mark Lazarovici from the University of Munich and former president of the Society for Simulation in Europe, and Dr. Crina Burlacu, a key figure in advancing simulation-based education in Ireland, particularly in anesthesiology. While Dr. Lazarovici connected concepts such as safety culture and systems design with themes like digitalization, human factors, and user experience, Dr. Burlacu focused on the advantages and challenges of single-specialty versus interdisciplinary training, as well as improving cooperation within healthcare teams through simulation-based learning.
Following the keynote talks, participants presented their own projects and ideas. Jiří Travěnec, Deputy Director for Technology at SIMU, along with Austrian partner Joachim Hilbrand, head of SIM Station, outlined a vision of simulation centers not only as educational environments but also as well-equipped infrastructures for research and development. The segment titled 5 Innovations in the SIMU Curriculum showcased best practices, such as the implementation of OSCE and RAT assessment modules, the involvement of active seniors as standardized patients, and the use of high-fidelity manikins in the teaching of such a specific fields like forensic medicine.
Shorter presentations followed in the afternoon, featuring success stories and simulation tool applications by colleagues from Univerzita Palackého in Olomouc, Univerzity Konštantína Filozofa in Nitra, and the MEDSIM simulation and education center in Banská Bystrica. As in previous years, attendees could also take part in several hands-on workshops.
The fourth edition of SIMPO once again confirmed that simulation-based education not only has a solid place in Czech and European medical education, but is gaining ever-wider relevance and application.
Members of the Scientific Board of the Masaryk University Faculty of Medicine met for their final session of the year at the Simulation Centre. The key agenda items included the discussion of three habilitation procedures and a proposal to award an honorary doctorate to the dean of a prestigious American medical school.
Students of the Paramedic Science degree programme at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, have achieved an exceptional success in the SimUniversity competition. The team composed of Michal Bělka, Pavel Krejčí, Šimon Zeljenka and Josef Růžička not only won the local round but also confirmed their excellence in the national finals, where they took first place among teams from all medical faculties in the Czech Republic.
They now face an online international qualifying round, which will determine whether they advance to the world finals in Lyon, France.
