E-SPARRING
About the project
E-SPARRING
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The E-SPARRING project is further developing the use of simulation patients (SPs) in the initial, continuing and further training of healthcare professionals.
SPs are trained actors or trained individuals who simulate real-life consultation and treatment scenarios in teaching and examination settings. This enables learners to practise, reflect on and improve their communication, practical and social skills in a safe environment. At the same time, this facilitates a fair and comparable examination environment without putting real patients at risk.
Why this project is needed
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The use of SP is already well established in medicine and across many healthcare professions. In practice, however, there are still significant differences in how it is implemented. This is precisely where the project comes in:
- Students are not always adequately prepared for working with SP.
- The perspective of students is often not taken into account sufficiently.
- Staff are often not systematically trained in the methodological use of SP.
- Sensitive topics require specific protection and quality standards.
- Simulation scenarios are frequently redeveloped from scratch, rather than being reused collaboratively.
- Access to the method is still too cumbersome for some programmes.
The project addresses these issues with a structured, digital and transferable approach.
Our approach
The aim is to provide digital support for the preparation and follow-up of SP interactions, to ensure quality and to improve communication between sites and specialist departments.
To this end, three components are being developed which, together, will enable sustainable and practical further development:
- Pillar I: Training of teaching staff
© Bielefeld University Teaching staff are supported in using simulation patients professionally in teaching and assessment. The content is organised in modules and can be adapted to the needs of individual departments.
Key areas of focus include:
- The use of simulation patients
- Feedback and debriefing
- Simulation scenarios in teaching
- Assessment using simulation patients
- Writing case vignettes
- Role-play training with SPs
- Quality assurance
- Specialised simulations
The digital learning modules contain video examples, interactive elements and assessments of learning objectives. This ensures that the use of simulated patients is professionally sound and quality-assured.
- Pillar II: Support for learners
© Bielefeld University Students, too, should be specifically prepared for SP contacts and supported in their reflection. To this end, digital modules are being developed to teach methodological principles and to support learners before, during and after the contact.
Possible topics include:
- What are simulation patients?
- Feedback and debriefing
- Preparation for the SP session
- Reflection afterwards
- SPs in my exam
The modules can be flexibly adapted to the subject area and target group. This ensures that learners receive exactly the support they need to interact with SPs successfully and confidently.
- Pillar III: Case database
© Bielefeld University The third component is a case database that can be used across different professions and institutions. It facilitates the search for, selection and further development of simulation scenarios.
The scenarios are structured and tagged according to a standardised interprofessional template. In addition, experiences, notes and comments can be added. This creates a shared resource that enhances quality, facilitates exchange and promotes reusability.
Project lead
Project staff
Dr. phil. Torsten Bollweg
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Projekt E-SPARRING
- Phone
- +49 521 106-82531
Involvement and further development
The project will be developed collaboratively from the outset. In addition to a panel of experts, students will be actively integrated through their own advisory board. Together with an evaluation framework, this will enable the content to be improved continuously.
The Student Advisory Board comprises medical students from three locations in Germany and advises the project team on matters relating to the specific perspectives of students. This includes insights into how the use of simulated patients in teaching and examinations is perceived, barriers to the active uptake of simulated patient interactions for professional development, and the need for systematic preparation for such interactions.
Student Advisory Board
Emily Gangei
Bielefeld University, Model Degree Programme in Medicine
Student assistant, Skills Lab at the medical school OWL
Johanna Knop
Georg-August University of Göttingen, Degree Programme in Medicine
Svenja Schäfers
University of Cologne, Degree Programme in Medicine
Student Assistant, Cologne Interprofessional Skills Lab & Simulation Centre (KISS)
The panel of experts comprises colleagues with many years’ experience in designing simulation scenarios, managing simulation programmes and training simulation patients and lecturers.
Panel of experts
Dr Angelika Hiroko Fritz
Simulation Patient Programme
Faculty of Medicine, Essen University Hospital
University of Duisburg-Essen
Elvira Pippel
Co-founder of HejSim | Simulation expert
Nursing scientist | Designer
Christian Thrien
Qualified social worker (University of Applied Sciences) / BuT® theatre educator
Trainer for simulation actors
University of Cologne
Transferable and sustainable
The project is being launched in the field of human medicine at Bielefeld University, where it will be piloted. The materials developed under Pillars I and II will subsequently be published as Open Educational Resources (OER) under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 licence and may be used by other institutions.
The case database will be set up by the project team at Bielefeld University and will subsequently be available online free of charge throughout Germany.
Literature
- Peters, Tim; Sommer, Michael; Fritz, Angelika Hiroko; Kursch, Angelika; Thrien, Christian (2019): Minimum standards and development perspectives for the use of simulated patients - a position paper of the committee for simulated patients of the German Association for Medical Education. In: GMS journal for medical education 36 (3), Doc31. https://doi.org/10.3205/zma001239
- Peters, Tim; Bauer, Daniel; Fritz, Angelika Hiroko; Hahn, Sandra; Hempel, Linn; Reck, Loretta et al. (2026): Development of a standardized role script template for simulated participant scenarios - results of a multi-step consensus process in the German-speaking countries. In: GMS journal for medical education 43 (2), Doc18. https://dx.doi.org/10.3205/zma001812
- Sommer, Michael; Fritz, Angelika Hiroko; Thrien, Christian; Kursch, Angelika; Peters, Tim (2019): Simulated patients in medical education - a survey on the current status in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In: GMS journal for medical education 36 (3), Doc27. https://dx.doi.org/10.3205/zma001235