The Role of Simulated Medication in Medical Training

Simulated medications are 'fake' practice medications designed to help medical students and interns learn how to administer different kinds of medications to patients in real-life scenarios. Each simulated medication product features realistic labels, visuals, and packaging so trainees can learn to effectively use the appropriate pharmaceutical medications and equipment in a realistic medical setting.

The Benefits of Simulated Medications in Educational Settings

Modern medical schools have incorporated health care simulations into their curriculums for students because of their effectiveness in teaching them how to conduct themselves better with patients. Pristine Medical distributes simulated medications in educational settings because they have been proven to help future physicians and nurses become better-educated medical professionals.

Here is a rundown of the primary benefits of offering simulated medications in educational settings:

1) Freedom to Make Mistakes

The number one reason to offer simulated medications is to give students the freedom to make mistakes. Since one medical mistake can harm a patient and lead to malpractice in the real world, students must learn how to administer the proper medications to patients suffering from various injuries or illnesses.

Simulated medications take the pressure off students by allowing them to make mistakes without harming any patients. Instead, students can focus on learning to diagnose patients, read medication labels, and administer the most appropriate treatments.

2) Experiential Learning is Highly Effective

There is only so much that a medical student can learn in a classroom. Lectures and textbooks can help create foundational knowledge for students. However, there will come a point when students need experiential learning to understand the applications of simulated medications on a personal level. That is the best way for them to remember it before becoming a doctor in the real world.

Experiential learning builds the core clinical competencies of students in controlled environments. By the time students finish their simulated medical training, they will have developed the confidence and competence to treat human patients in a real clinical setting. No classroom or textbook can give students the same levels of confidence and competence.

3) Easy Transition to a Real-World Clinical Practice

Think of simulated medication to streamline the learning process for medical students. A simulation-based clinical experience eliminates all the risk and worry of hurting patients, so students can focus on acquiring as much hands-on medical knowledge and experience as possible.

As a result, it will be much easier for medical students to transition from a learning environment to a real-world clinical setting. The students would have already developed comfort and confidence in treating patients, so they would be less worried about making mistakes after learning in a simulated clinical setting.

4) Receive Feedback from Standardized Patients

Simulated clinical settings use standardized patients to provide honest feedback to medical students. Standardized patients are specially trained individuals who act like real patients to help educate medical students. In other words, a standardized patient knows how to play the part of a patient by appropriately responding and reacting to the actions of the medical students as they attempt to treat them.

Standardized patients assess all the actions of the medical students treating them, including their procedural and interpersonal skills. They will provide immediate positive or negative feedback to the students to help move them in the right direction. The feedback is not meant to be critical but rather informative in helping the students make better decisions. The instructors will also step in and offer additional feedback as well.

5) Customizable Medical Simulations

Medical students rarely get to practice complex medical procedures or treat rare diseases in real medical settings. The great thing about simulated medication applications is they are fully customizable to simulate the treatment procedures of virtually any disease or injury. Because of this, students get a lot more practice in conducting advanced treatment procedures that they would not otherwise get in a real clinical setting.

The Applications of Simulated Medications in Educational Settings

The applications of simulated medications come in many forms, such as prescription medication bottles, inhalers, spray bottles, IV bags, medicine vials, pre-filled syringes, IV insertion arms, virtual reality, patient simulators, and more. Some medical simulation tools are alternatives to human patients, while others require you to interact with well-trained, standardized patients.

Let’s look at some common examples of how simulated medications are applied in educational settings:

1) Diabetic Treatment Simulation

According to the IDF Diabetes Atlas, roughly 537 million adults between 20 and 79 years old are living with some form of diabetes. It is a widespread condition affecting people of all income classes and social statuses. That is why diabetic treatment simulations have become more common in medical schools and learning environments.

Diabetic treatment simulation teaches students to treat diabetic patients suffering from hyperglycemia. Students will learn to administer simulated insulin and provide diet advice to standardized diabetic patients to help them better manage their diabetes.

2) Heart Disease Simulation

Heart disease is another common problem facing millions of patients worldwide. A famous simulation technology called the “Harvey” cardiology simulator is programmed to simulate several cardiac diseases in approximately 50 patient scenarios. Everyone from students to active physicians and nurses uses Harvey to develop their cardiology training.

Harvey provides a complete medical history, laboratory data, bedside findings, and diagnostic testing information for each patient scenario. It is an invaluable tool for students to learn how to treat all kinds of complex cardiovascular illnesses and diseases. Although this technology has been around for over 50 years, it continues to undergo improvements to conform to the latest treatments in cardiology.

3) Bacterial Infection Simulation

Bacterial infections happen to people all the time. They can cause inflammation and irritation to the lungs, nose, throat, eyes, and wherever dangerous bacteria have entered the body. Bacterial infection simulations help teach students how to treat bacterial infections with simulated vials of antibiotics like Azithromycin. 

Azithromycin is usually available via oral prescription medication, but doctors also administer azithromycin injections to treat bacterial infections in several body areas. In a simulated clinical setting, students get practice using vials of Azithromycin to treat patients via injections.

Conclusion

There are many different benefits and applications of simulated medications available to medical students, physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. By the time students finish their simulated medication programs, they will have developed safe medication practices to ensure they do not make mistakes in real clinical settings.

Do you need simulated medication products for your medical training facility? Visit Pristine Medical to find realistic medical training tools to help educate your students, such as oral medications, vials, and ampules.