The Alameda Health System (AHS) Simulation Center is proud to join the global community in celebrating Healthcare Simulation Week 2025, observed this year from September 15-19. Healthcare Simulation Week is an annual event organized by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) to highlight the vital role that simulation plays in health care. This year’s theme, “United Through Simulation” highlights the importance of collaboration and innovation of the international simulation community to improve and enhance safety and quality of care for patients and health care teams.

At the AHS Simulation Center our motto is “Simulation for All.” We take pride in conducting diverse and impactful simulation-based education (SBE) within our safety-net hospital system, including education in our Simulation Center located at Highland Hospital, in situ simulations onsite at other AHS clinics and hospitals, and at local schools. We are committed to delivering cutting-edge simulation-based education to our health care providers and care teams to enhance their skills and confidence through simulation-based education, and we utilize a variety of simulation modalities including simulators, task trainers, actors and hybrid simulations, ensuring a dynamic and immersive learning experience. Our simulation programs are designed to replicate real-world clinical scenarios, allowing learners to practice and refine their skills in a safe and controlled environment. This hands-on approach ensures that our healthcare professionals are well-prepared to deliver the highest standards of care to our patients.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our dedicated simulation staff, whose expertise and commitment are the backbone of our simulation programs. Their relentless pursuit of excellence ensures that our simulation center remains a leader in healthcare education.

We also wish to recognize the invaluable contributions of our simulation facilitators, who guide and mentor our learners with unwavering dedication. Their role in fostering a positive learning environment is crucial to the success of our programs.

Lastly, we want to express our gratitude to our simulation learners, whose enthusiasm and commitment to continuous learning embody the spirit of health care simulation. Their active participation in our programs drives the ongoing advancement of patient safety and care quality.

As we celebrate Healthcare Simulation Week 2025, we reaffirm our commitment to using simulation as a powerful tool to advance safe and effective health care. Together, we will continue to unite with the simulation community to innovate, educate and inspire the next generation of health care professionals.

AHS Simulation Center on the 2025 national stage: Highlights of 2025 presentations

SimGHOSTS USA 2025

On behalf of AHS and the AHS Simulation Center, Simulation Operation Specialist Brian Hanlon, CHSOS-A, presented to an international audience at SimGHOSTS USA 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee in July on the topic, “Advocate for the Role of the Simulation Operations Specialist Through Moulage to Student Populations.”

For background, the AHS Simulation Center partners with the pipeline program, HealthPATH, to provide simulation-based education to students throughout Oakland Unified School District who are interested in health care careers. The programming consists of skills sessions and simulations on a wide range of topics highlighting different career paths and settings for the learners to experience. In collaboration with guest clinicians, Brian co-facilitates this programming. The evolution of this programming presented a unique and strategic opportunity to showcase the role of the simulation operation specialist as a career pathway.

Throughout Brian’s 90-minute presentation he covered tools and strategies for teaching students moulage techniques while respecting the student attention span. He led the group in practicing four special effect and make-up techniques (‘moulage’), that he uses in the current curriculum. These techniques include the application of temporary tattoos and gel blood, bruise work and anatomy, abrasions, and an impalement using modeling wax and popsicle sticks.

The workshop provided a unique hands-on and collaborative learning opportunity to conference attendees. Brian is grateful for the opportunity to share with an international audience the novel work we are doing at the AHS Simulation Center.

IMSH 2025

AHS Medical Director of Clinical Simulation and Highland emergency physician Julie Gesch, MD, co-presented two workshops, along with co-presenters from Stanford and Kaweah Delta simulation programs, at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in Orlando, Florida in January 2025. The first workshop, “Sim-Spirited: A Step-By-Step Workshop on Creating Your Own Multi-Institutional Simulation Competition,” taught participants the definition of a collaborative simulation competition and gave participants hands-on opportunities to identify partner institutions, create a timeline of tasks to plan a competition and propose ways to enhance the educational impact of the simulation competition. This was the second year this workshop was taught and had been invited back due to high marks from the prior year’s presentation.

The second workshop, “When You Don’t Have Time, Money or Space: Integrating In Situ Sim Against the Odds,” provide a hands-on space for participants to Identify key advantages and challenges of integrating in situ simulation for health care teams in the hospital setting, illustrate approaches for navigating barriers to in situ simulation, evaluate the individual workplace setting for key barriers to integrating in situ simulation, formulate a plan to navigate a selected barrier using the Plan-Do-Study-Act model. This workshop was very well-received and has been selected to be presented again at IMSH 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.