Deliberate Practice
Deliberate practice was described by the psychologist K. Anders Ericcson in the early 90’s as a process necessary to develop expertise.
It is the process of taking a learner’s intrinsic motivation to work at improving performance and providing: 1) focused instruction geared appropriately to the learner’s level of training, 2) immediate informative feedback and knowledge of results of their performance, and 3) the opportunity to repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks to solidify their newly acquired skills.
Simulation provides these essential components. Scheduled sessions provide predictable exposure. The learners can come prepared to practice. The task trainers we use provide each resident with a greater number of repetitions than they might otherwise receive on actual patients. An entire class are given consistent training so that their educational opportunities are not left to chance encounter in the clinical arena.
Copyright 2009, CSTAR Media and Ernest Wang, MD