Can medical students use SimSimple to practice?
One of the questions we've been hearing more frequently is: "Can medical students use SimSimple Kits to practise?"
Why not!
When I was a medical student, I used to practise scenarios with a couple of colleagues using teddy bears, pillows and whatever else we could find around the house. We'd talk through assessments, rehearse management plans and imagine how a patient might respond as the scenario unfolded.
Looking back, those sessions taught me an important lesson: you don't need a fancy simulation centre...you just need a desire to improve and some friends. And if the exams go well, you get to celebrate!
SimSimple Kits could support a slightly more sophisticated version of that same simple social learning.
SimSimple Kits for Trainees
While our kits were originally designed to support faculty facilitated simulation sessions, we've seen growing interest from medical schools and student groups looking for ways to practise outside of formal teaching. Whether it's preparing for OSCEs, revising emergency presentations, or building confidence before clinical placements, the kits provide a simple way to bring clinical scenarios to life.
We recommend gathering 2–5 students, with one person acting as the facilitator while the others manage the patient. The facilitator's role is to describe what the team would normally see and hear—what the patient looks like, what they're saying, how they respond to treatment, and when new information such as vital signs, ECGs or investigation results becomes available. Taking turns in the facilitator role also helps develop your ability to recognise important clinical cues and anticipate how patients evolve over time.
The goal isn't to perfectly recreate reality. It's to practise the thinking, communication and decision-making that underpin good patient care. Working through scenarios together develops clinical reasoning, teamwork and confidence in a way that reading alone simply can't.
Students can spend a few minutes after each scenario discussing what went well, what could have been done differently and what everyone learned. Those conversations often provide the greatest learning of all.
To help students get started, we've created a free Student Quick Start Guide with practical tips on running your own SimSimple sessions, facilitating scenarios and debriefing as a group. Our SimSimple Scenario Packs may also be useful for students looking for help with facilitating but we also encourage you to think of your own!
Every clinician starts somewhere. If we can make practising clinical medicine just a little easier—and a little more enjoyable and a little more centred in practicing together—we think that's a pretty good place to begin.
Simple Tools for Serious Teams.
