Former astronaut Dr. David Williams will open the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada International Conference on Residency Education on Thursday. While he will draw the links between astronaut training and medical education, the pre-conference simulation summit will delve into leading edge and safer ways of training new doctors.

At today’s International Summit on Simulation participants are learning leading edge simulationbased education and innovative approaches that are changing the way future physicians are trained. The Simulation Summit is focused entirely on exchanging the latest practices and curriculum using simulation to deliver true to life learning experiences, train interprofessional teams and to improve patient safety.

Simulation allows residents to experience scenarios and develop their assessment, reactive and technical abilities in a safe environment. There is a growing consensus and evidence linking simulated learning in a controlled environment to an improvement in the quality of care provided by residents during real patient events.

The Simulation Summit has brought together leading experts in Ottawa to share the benefits of this technology and new thinking for teaching crisis resource management, procedural, assessment, patient safety and emergency critical care skills.

The Simulation Summit will have over 35 workshops and learning sessions, exhibits, poster sessions and will feature:

Thursday Sept 25, 2008 11:45 am- 12:30 pm	Integrating Patient Safety, Simulation and CanMEDS into Training
Victoria Ballroom South, 2nd F Ottawa Marriott	David Musson, PhD, McMaster University Dr. Musson will translate lessons learned from aviation safety training into health care training with the use of simulation.
Thursday Sept 25, 2008 15:00 pm- 15:45 pm	The Effective Use of Simulation-Based Education: Do we Have a Consensus?
Victoria Ballroom South, 2nd F Ottawa Marriott	James Gordon, MD, MPA, Director, Gilbert Program in Medical Simulation and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Dr. Gordon will discuss the role of simulation in medical education today and identify how to integrate effective simulation approaches across health care disciplines.
Thursday Sept 25, 2008 16:00 pm- 17:00 pm	Peak Performance in Clinical Care: Lessons from the Edge
Victoria Ballroom South, 2nd F Ottawa Marriott	Dave Williams, MD, FRCPC, retired astronaut and current Director McMaster Centre for Medical Robotics Dr. Williams will describe NASA astronaut training methods and the implications of astronaut training for residency education.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada is the national, not-for-profit organization that oversees the medical education of specialists in Canada by setting high standards for postgraduate medical education and continuing professional development. In collaboration with health organizations and government agencies, the Royal College also plays a role in developing sound health policy in Canada.