ABSTRACT
The ethics of medical training are complex, balancing the need to provide trainees with experience while minimizing the potential harm to patients from their lack of skill. Our current tolerance for preventable medical errors is appropriately low, yet our human nature makes the elimination of all error impossible. Advances in medical simulation have provided new ways of training that reduce risk to patients. Simulation provides a unique opportunity to allow trainees to learn specific psychomotor skills, work through complicated patient-care scenarios, improve their teamwork, and learn from mistakes without affecting direct patient care. In this chapter, the authors examine available simulation modalities such as low-fidelity skill trainers, virtual reality trainers, high-fidelity manikins, and standardized patients that can be employed to provide medical education in an ethical manner. The authors then provide an analysis of the ethical costs and benefits of employing simulations in medical education.
