Simulation-Based Medical Learning: The Future of Sri Lankan Health Care

Novel medical curricula stress the need for proficiency in clinical skills by medical and nursing undergraduates over the mere possession of knowledge. Simulation-based Medical Learning has gained the attention of modern clinical training by enhancing clinical performance and patient safety more than traditional clinical training at hospitals. The present modern medical context uses various types of simulators. However, Simulation-Based Medical Learning in Sri Lanka remains at a preliminary stage compared to the international context due to multiple challenges.
This paper aims to identify the challenges faced in Simulation-Based Medical Learning in Sri Lanka and recommend the mechanisms to overcome those challenges. Lack of resources and infrastructure, lack of funding, poor literacy on handling simulators, lack of trained personnel, and cultural and mindset barriers were the identified potential challenges in Sri Lanka towards Simulation-Based Medical Learning. Nevertheless, these challenges can be mediated by finding international partnerships and funding sources, establishing foreign training with new collaborations, increasing awareness through faculty development programmes, combining Simulated Patients with low-fidelity simulators, and integrating Simulation-Based Medical Learning into the medical curriculum.