title: The value proposition of simulation.
abstract: Simulation has been shown to improve trainee performance at the bedside and in the operating room. As the use of simulation-based training is expanded to address a host of health care challenges, its added value needs to be clearly demonstrated. Demonstrable improvements will support the expansion of infrastructure, staff, and programs within existing simulation facilities as well as the establishment of new facilities to meet growing needs and demands. Thus, organizational and institutional leaders, faculty members, and other stakeholders can be assured of the best use of existing resources and can be persuaded to make greater investments in simulation-based training for the future.
  
  
  
  A multidisciplinary panel was convened during the 8th Annual Meeting of the Consortium of the American College of Surgeons-Accredited Education Institutes (Simulation Centers) in March 2015 to discuss the added value of simulation-based training. Panelists shared the ways in which the value of simulation was demonstrated at their institutions.
  
  
  
  The value of simulation-based training was considered and described in terms of educational impact, patient care outcomes, and costs.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Electronic address: aimee.gardner@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Aimee K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.affiliation: Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, MA.
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nepomnayshy
authors.affiliation: Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reickert
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Denise W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Gee
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brydges
authors.affiliation: Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Korndorffer
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Ajit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D000066908:Simulation Training / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000193:education*