Enhancing Simulation Faculty Development for International Medical Graduates in Scotland
About this pre-learning programme
This programme is designed as a "bolt-on" faculty development course, building on existing simulation experience and helping you adapt your practice to support International Medical Graduates (IMGs) through cultural humility and adaptive debriefing. It is not intended as an introduction to simulation-based education.
This page contains resources as essential pre-learning that will enable you to gain the theoretical and practical foundation required before attending the in-person faculty development workshop.
Time to complete: 60-90 minutes.
Learning Objectives
By completing this ESSENTIAL pre-learning, you will begin to
Develop greater awareness of your own cultural lens and recognise how personal values, assumptions and experiences shape your educational practice.
Explore how culture influences communication, feedback, hierarchy and participation in simulation-based learning.
Recognise the unique experiences and challenges that International Medical Graduates may encounter when engaging with simulation and reflective debriefing.
Apply principles of cultural humility to create psychologically safer, more inclusive and adaptive simulation learning environments.
(N.B. We offer 2 additional optional research publications at the end - these are optional reading and preparation only, you don’t have to read them to attend the course date)
Before you begin
We do not expect participants to be simulation experts, nor do we require a specific qualification, course, or level of seniority to attend. However, to gain the greatest benefit from both the pre-learning and the workshop, we assume that participants have:
Completed some form of simulation faculty development (local, regional, specialty-specific, undergraduate, postgraduate, College, Health Board, or equivalent).
Participated as simulation faculty on one or more occasions.
Experience contributing to simulation debriefing discussions.
Led a simulation debrief independently at least once.
The concepts explored in this course build upon these foundations. Without some prior exposure to simulation facilitation and debriefing, parts of the course may feel unfamiliar and you may not gain the full value from the learning experience. Our aim is to ensure that your time with us is both rewarding and practically useful.
If you are unsure whether this course is right for you, please contact us at [will insert email address]. We would be delighted to discuss your experience, answer any questions, and signpost you towards helpful resources on simulation-based education, cultural humility, and related topics.
As this is a new programme, we are continuing to learn alongside our participants about the most appropriate level of prior experience required. We welcome feedback and suggestions that help us strike the right balance between accessibility and educational value.
If you would like a refresher on simulation faculty skills before attending, or if it has been some time since you last facilitated simulation, we recommend the following free TURAS resources [linked in images below]
- Becoming a Simulation-Based Educator
- Writing and Delivering Simulation Scenarios
Provided you have completed some faculty training, have participated as simulation faculty, and have experience leading a debrief, you are likely to have the foundation needed to engage fully with this programme and benefit from the additional skills and perspectives it offers.
Essential Pre-learning Programme
The programme contains 4 sections:
- Defining Culture
- Personal Profiling : The Culture Map and your own profile
- The National Context (Scotland)
- Evidence-Based Research (optional reading)
1. Defining Culture
Resource Link: What Is Culture
Before addressing simulation skills and clinical communication, we must establish a shared understanding of "culture" as a system of shared meaning.
- Action: Explore the link above Intro page and watch the video ‘What is Culture?’ (01:56) and on the next page called Core vs. Flex, watch the TEDx talk ‘Cultural Intelligence: The Competitive Edge for Leaders’ (13:35)
- Reflection: Consider how "invisible" cultural assumptions (values and thought patterns) influence your perception of a learner's performance in a simulation scenario and debrief.
2. Personal Profiling: The Culture Map and your own profile
Open the resource: What's Your Cultural Profile? Quiz by Erin Meyer
Different cultures have varied approaches to communication, negative feedback and hierarchy.
Cultural intelligence begins with cultural awareness, and the best place to start is by becoming more aware of your own culture.
Action: Complete the quiz at the link above for your own cultural profile. The results enable you to observe on a visual scale how you compare to others of the same nationality and to people living in different parts of the world.
Application: Note your results on the "Communicating" and "Evaluating" scales. These often dictate how a learner reacts to a our teaching and debriefing style.
Next Steps: Please bring your Culture Profile results to the core workshop (printed or on your phone/laptop is fine). We will use these during the "Shadow Boxing" film reviews and role-play exercises to identify facilitation "pivots".
3. The National Context (Scotland)
Open the resource: Find what's going on in Scotland - International Medical Graduate Hub | Turas | Learn
Open the resource: Find out what's going on in your health board- Health Board specific pages
Grounding your facilitation in the local framework is essential for consistency across the Scottish Deanery.
What's happening in your region already?
Action: Review the resources available in your health board and find what induction information or events are available locally and nationally.
Focus: Familiarise yourself with the specific onboarding journey IMGs undergo in your Health Board to better appreciate the cognitive load they face overall on arrival and in turn during high-fidelity simulation and debriefing.
4. Evidence-Based Research
Optional Reading:
Research indicates that simulation is an "educational custom" that may be entirely foreign to many IMGs.
These publications explore how simulation can influence integration of IMGs and provide more insight into this concept.