The Role of Medical Simulation in Current Paediatrics Training: A Case for Zambia

There has been a rise in the number of health training facilities offering training in Pediatrics in Zambia in recent years. For nearly four decades, there was only one medical school offering medical training in Zambia, with very low annual enrolment numbers. In the past one decade, the number of students being admitted to medical school have increased dramatically, more so with the introduction of new medical schools both public and private. However, the number of trainers has not increased proportionately, hospital infrastructure has remained relatively static, and the number of trainees per patient has greatly increased. This would thus entail the need to introduce new and additional methods of teaching, such as the simulation based approach as a safe supplementary mode of training to be considered for our setting. This paper will therefore seek to examine the role of simulation based training in medical education in the field of Pediatrics and Child Health.