A Curriculum Using Simulation Models to Teach Gynecology and Obstetrics to Trainees

IntRoductIon With the development of science and technology, great changes have taken place in medical education, making it increasingly complicated and diversified. For medical students who have just finished basic medicine courses and are preparing for their hospital internships, it is difficult to gain experience performing direct physical examinations on patients. Currently, residents’ clinical skills are assessed very strictly; simply taking notes and reciting facts will not suffice. Because considerable attention is being paid to medical students’ clinical skills on a national level, it is reasonable to conclude that practical abilities are becoming increasingly significant in medical education. In addition to the strained relationship between doctors and patients in China, patients’ awareness and defense of their rights are stronger than ever; furthermore, given the expansion of medical colleges in China, medical students’ education has become more complex, and their opportunities to participate in surgery have decreased considerably. The specific nature of obstetrical and gynecological diseases, the complex anatomical structures, and some traditional Chinese concepts combine to make gynecology and obstetrics education particularly challenging. Residents are busy with their inpatients, and it is often awkward to have to teach in the hospital room or the outpatient department while expectant parents are awaiting the birth of their child. In such situations, simulation models play an important role. Medical simulation teaching uses various methods to simulate the work of clinical medicine in a way that provides learners a risk‐free environment in which to gain clinical knowledge and skills. Compared with other medical teaching methods, simulation is noninvasive, convenient, repeatable, and inexpensive. It is likely to become a commonly used teaching method;[1] therefore, for residents and medical students at various stages, practice with medical simulation models and evaluations of training on those models are very important. In medical education, medical simulation models and simulation teaching have a broad range of applications.