title: vTrain: a novel curriculum for patient surge training in a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During a pandemic influenza, emergency departments will be overwhelmed with a large influx of patients seeking care. Although all hospitals should have a written plan for dealing with this surge of health care utilization, most hospitals struggle with ways to educate the staff and practice for potentially catastrophic events. Hypothesis/Problem To better prepare hospital staff for a patient surge, a novel educational curriculum was developed utilizing an emergency department for a patient surge functional drill.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multidisciplinary team of medical educators, evaluators, emergency preparedness experts, and technology specialists developed a curriculum to: (1) train novice users to function in their job class in a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE); (2) obtain appropriate pre-drill disaster preparedness training; (3) perform functional team exercises in a MUVE; and (4) reflect on their performance after the drill.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 14 students participated in one of two iterations of the pilot training program; seven nurses completed the emergency department triage course, and seven hospital administrators completed the Command Post (CP) course. All participants reported positive experiences in written course evaluations and structured verbal debriefings, and self-reported increase in disaster preparedness knowledge. Students also reported improved team communication, planning, team decision making, and the ability to visualize and reflect on their performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data from this pilot program suggest that the immersive, virtual teaching method is well suited to team-based, reflective practice and learning of disaster management skills.
authors: Health Services Research & Development, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA. lgreci@ucsd.edu
authors: Laura S
authors: LS
authors: Greci
authors: Rameshsharma
authors: R
authors: Ramloll
authors: Samantha
authors: S
authors: Hurst
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Garman
authors: Jaishree
authors: J
authors: Beedasy
authors: Eric B
authors: EB
authors: Pieper
authors: Ricky
authors: R
authors: Huang
authors: Erin
authors: E
authors: Higginbotham
authors: Zia
authors: Z
authors: Agha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014218:Triage; D014584:User-Computer Interface