Simulation in Healthcare

Abstract

Simulation in Healthcare premiered in 2006 providing a forum for educators, researchers, clinicians, and developers to publish their scholarly work in an emerging arena, representing the intersection of simulation and healthcare. Under the leadership of Dr. David Gaba, the founding editor-in-chief (EIC), the journal has enjoyed tremendous success. It is the most revered peer-reviewed journal of its kind and one of the most successful accomplishments of our society. During Dr. Gaba's tenure, the journal was accepted for indexing by PubMed in 2008. Author interest in publishing surged, requiring an increase from 4 to 6 issues per year in 2010. The journal received its first Thomson Reuters Journal Impact Factor rating of 2.036 in 2011. At present, Simulation in Healthcare is the official journal for 21 national, international, and professional associations or societies. The journal is now in its 11th year and published its first special theme issue in April. This is a remarkable record of achievement by any measure and one in which all members of our society can take pride. We owe Dr. Gaba a debt of gratitude and wish him much success in his future endeavors. I am humbled and honored to succeed Dr. Gaba as the second EIC of this prestigious journal. I come into this role with a different background than my predecessor. I am a human factors psychologist by profession. Human factors psychology is a synthesis of psychology and engineering. It is a discipline concerned with how to improve individual or team performance by creating a better fit between humans and their technology, with an emphasis on training, assessment, safety, and better design of tasks and equipment. Initially, I studied aviation and military simulation systems but shifted my focus toward healthcare around 2003. I knew that simulation provided a safe means to study human fallibility and improve human resilience in other high-risk domains and believed that healthcare was no exception. Since then, I have been fortunate to conduct research and collaborate with clinicians and healthcare providers from many different specialties including: anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, interventional radiology, nursing, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology, pediatrics, sonography, surgery, as well as physician's assistants and standardized patients. Most important, in my new role as EIC, I am supported by an outstanding and distinguished team of associate editors, editorial board members, and peer reviewers whose expertise spans a diverse spectrum of clinical and technical specialties. I am also grateful to have the sage council of Dr. Gaba who will remain on the editorial board as founding EIC. In addition to healthcare simulation, I am also involved in the training and education of simulation professionals. My university recognizes the pervasive and multidisciplinary nature of modeling and simulation and established an interdisciplinary steering committee with representatives from every college. I currently serve as chair of this steering committee, which is tasked with managing and guiding the pedagogical concerns of modeling and simulation across the university, including 8 modeling and simulation certificate programs in business; computer science; education; health sciences; international studies; math; modeling, simulation, and visualization; and human factors. SIMULATION IN HEALTHCARE Who Are We and Who Do We Want to be? The journal is “growing up.” We have entered our teen years. As children become adolescents, they begin to do more exploring, take more risks, and try to gain a better understanding of themselves. The psychologist, Erik Erikson, argued that adolescents often go through an identity crisis.1 They begin to ask questions about who they are, where they belong, how they fit in, and what they want to be. Those who are successful at resolving the issues surrounding their identity have greater confidence in themselves and are better pr