The CREST simulation development process: training the next generation of "the pack": Beyond the Abstract

The 21st century promises to elevate procedural skills education and assessment from a Halsteadian paradigm of "see one, do one, teach one" to one based in proficiency benchmarking.

In order to do this, Centers of Surgical Education Excellence such as the CREST center described by Dr. Sweet and his team as well as the WISH Center at the University of Washington are leading the way for creating templates to design, build, and implement surgical simulation curricula through high- and low-fidelity training technologies. Dr. Sweet describes the CREST Team's journey through needs assessment, brainstorming, Delphi processes, industry partnerships, extramural federally funding successes, and practical training solutions that have yielded a robust panel of endourology education tools over the last decade. The scientific rigor Dr. Sweet's Team has applied to the creation of these modules is a testament to their conviction and their high regard for accelerating learning curves affording trainees with a learner-centered paradigm, not patient-centered, training paradigm. The fruits of the CREST initiatives have already and will continue to be at the foundation of many endourology education programs across the country.

Written by Thomas Lendvay 

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