Regulatory bodies and healthcare commissioners are starting to agree that using simulation, particularly full immersion techniques, is better for both training and patient safety. A World Health organization patient safety guide for medical schools also made extensive reference to simulation. Realistic replication of clinical situations not only helps teach technical skills but can also give important insights into how individuals and teams behave and communicate, areas that have been repeatediy identified as common sources of clinical errors.
Simulators are widely used in aviation, and the chief medical officer's report notes how trainee pilots are able to use the technology to recreate difficult situations and how established pilots must also fly regular simulator flights. But one of the key elements in the aviation industry's remarkable reduction in air crashes in the second half of the 20th century was the introduction of mandatory training in teamwork and human behavioural factors