European simulation-based education and training in anaesthesiology and intensive care: evidence, value and inevitable evolution.

Abstract

Anaesthesiologists, intensive care, and perioperative physicians work within multidisciplinary teams in high-risk environments where adverse events may threaten patient safety and are often avoidable. They face converging challenges, including multimorbidity and increasing clinical complexity, workforce shortages and burnout, technological evolution, and rising expectations for safety, equity, and sustainability. In this expert-driven evidence-based consensus review, we aim to demonstrate that simulation-based education and training (SBET) is uniquely positioned to address these challenges. We review how SBET adds value across the professional lifespan, from initial training to high-stakes examinations and continuing professional development. We further examine how SBET enhances team performance, identifies latent system threats, and supports organisational redesign through translational simulation. We examine how SBET can prepare for the future by fostering digital and ecological competencies. We explore key barriers to implementation, as despite SBET's value, its adoption across anaesthesiology, intensive care, and perioperative medicine remains fragmented, with limited interprofessional integration and few national frameworks. Above all, we advocate for coordinated value-based adoption of SBET across education and healthcare systems, recognising it not merely as an educational method but as a strategic infrastructure for high-reliability healthcare systems. Sustained investment, protected time, faculty development, and interprofessional integration are essential to realise its full potential. Aligned strategies to close the gap between evidence and practice are crucial. Without decisive and collective action, education and healthcare risk losing one of the most effective tools for improving patient safety, enhancing individual and system resilience, and maintaining the highest standards of excellence across our specialty and interprofessional practice.