Design principles for the use of simulation as an aid in interventional cardiology training

Learning complex skills through simulation is a goal for training physicians in specialties such as interventional cardiology, where traditional training puts patients at risk. Intuitively, interactive simulation of anatomy, pathology and therapeutic actions should lead to shortening of the learning curve for novice or inexperienced physicians. An accurate recreation of the interactions among anatomy, pathology and therapeutic actions is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the development of a simulation-based training system. In addition to real-time graphic interactivity coupled with haptic response, a successful training tool will require features of a 'learning system' such as: an embedded curriculum, functionality that allows rehearsal and practice, hypertext links to educational information, personal archiving, and instructor review and testing capabilities. We describe how such a system might look for the field of interventional cardiology, and suggest that designing a simulation with both technical and pedagogical fidelity is essential in developing simulation-based training systems in any field of medicine.