Simulation Centre Development Strategy: training for the team at Sumy State University

Training session “Simulation Centre Development Strategy” took place in Zhytomyr on 17–18 February. The two-day session was led by Matviy Khrenov, co-founder of the Ukrainian Healthcare Centre (UHC) and adviser to the Minister of Health of Ukraine from 2018 to 2020. 

The participants worked on key strategic questions:  

• how to define their simulation centre’s value proposition and its unique advantages;  

• who the target audience is;  

• how to build relationships with clients;  

• assessing available resources;  

• finding partners;  

• developing a comprehensive strategic plan. 

The training was delivered with methodological support from Nataliia Starynska, a teaching skills coach, facilitator, lecturer at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, and a certified Project Management Professional. Nataliia’s role is to help the Sumy State University team to integrate the training material into their future work, in particular to finalise the strategy draft that was started during the training. 

The participants highlighted the practical value of the training. “I consider the greatest achievement to be the systematisation of knowledge regarding organisation and development of simulation-based education, as well as the practical tools for establishing and improving the work of a simulation centre,” said one participant. Another emphasised that the training enabled them to analyse specific actions and potential risks in detail and step by step. 

This is not the first training of its kind for our project – we are working consistently with pilot institutions on the strategic development of their simulation centres. We hope that for our colleagues in Sumy it has provided a solid foundation for developing their own strategy.