As a stepping stone in an international collaboration to promote mental health simulation in Europe, Paris Université and Maudsley Simulation teamed up for a day conference dedicated to simulation-based education in mental health. Introduced by Prof Cécile Badoual, vice-president for pedagogy innovation at the Université de Paris (Health Department), Prof Pierre Vidailhet from the French Society for Healthcare Simulation (SoFraSimS) and Prof Fabrice Jollant, who piloted simulation training for psychiatric trainees and suicide prevention, the day put together a stimulating overview of the critical components of simulation training for mental heath education.
During the morning, plenaries took us through Maudsley Learning’s journey to take off the ground a unique team dedicated to mental health simulation in London. We heard about the pervasive significance of emotions in learning and its key role in clinical education. We explored some principles of debriefing in simulation training and its crucial role in mental health simulation. We reviewed the evidence from the international literature and the Maudsley team research agenda. And we heard about a fantastic initiative in Paris to roll out simulation training to psychiatric trainees aiming to prepare for addressing suicide risk.
The afternoon allowed participants to joint interactive workshops and have more direct interactions with the group of clinical educators with direct experience of simulation training. This was an opportunity to experience debriefing dynamics first-hand, to explore the different roles for professional actors and expert patients, and to discover more recent work from the Maudsley centre to deliver simulation training digitally.
Maudsley Learning is proud of its European connections and highly values international partnerships. This conference was one thread in a partnership all parties were keen to pursue to foster international synergies and to promote innovative mental heath education across boundaries.
