Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST)
Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST) offers a range of programmes, underpinned by best practice principles, with the goal of supporting the use of simulation training in low-resource settings
VAST programmes include:
- VAST Course – a 3-day immersive, inter-disciplinary simulation-based programme designed to teach core peri-operative practices and non-technical skills. Using routinely available and low-cost materials, the course is highly portable and deliverable across diverse settings. The VAST Course accommodates learners from anaesthesia, surgery, general medicine, nursing, and midwifery and has demonstrated capacity to improve participants’ non-technical skills.
- VAST Facilitator Course – a 2- to 3-day workshop where participants are orientated to key elements of simulation methodology and the processes for design, delivery and debriefing inter-professional simulation scenarios. Participants are mentored and given opportunity to build their skills and confidence in simulation facilitation.
- VAST Foundation Year – a 48-week simulation-based curriculum of weekly half-day active learning sessions, extensively using simulation for developing the fundamentals of anaesthesia practice.
- VAST Wellbeing – a one-day course designed to support multi-disciplinary health care providers to develop strategies for promoting personal and professional wellbeing and for preventing burnout in the workplace.
VAST was developed as a collaborative effort between clinicians at Dalhousie University’s Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine and the University of Rwanda
Further Reading
- The VAST website
- Promoting anaesthesia providers’ non-technical skills through the Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST) course in a low-resource setting – British Journal of Anaesthesia
- Immersive simulation designed for low-resource settings – Update in Anaesthesia Journal
- Immersive simulation designed for diverse settings – International Journal of Surgery Global Health