Endocrine Abstracts

SIMBA (Simulation via Instant Messaging- Birmingham Advance) is a novel pedagogical simulation-based learning model which improves clinicians’ confidence in managing conditions in endocrinology and diabetes. More than 25 SIMBA sessions have been conducted between May 2020 and August 2022. Each session included 4 to 6 real-life anonymised case scenarios followed by an interactive discussion. SIMBA effectively adopts Kolb’s theory to provide the best possible experience to learners, highlighting the advantages of utilising social media platforms for SBL in medical education. Participants’ self-reported confidence improved significantly post-SIMBA in their approach to simulated cases. SIMBA has also proved to be effective at cultivating leadership and teamwork skills among medical students and junior doctors when they participate in delivering the session. The ability to conduct SIMBA sessions at a low cost with high fidelity has levelled the learning ground for healthcare professionals from across the globe, irrespective of their country of origin. CoMICs, a medical education initiative conceptualised by medical students and junior doctors, produces bite-sized videos with illustrations and infographics. Each video depicts a specific disease or medical condition, from presentation and investigations to stepwise management and follow-up options. Creating CoMICs provides medical students and junior doctors with invaluable experience in medical education, revision of key concepts and the opportunity to work closely with the leaders in the field. CoMICs reviewers also get the chance to contribute to an exciting initiative which is growing in popularity each week. Building on the success of CoMICs, the team has recently collaborated with the European Journal of Endocrinology (EJE) to produce short videos presenting selected articles published in the EJE. A new video is shared weekly as part of our #CoMICWednesday initiative. So far, over 120 episodes have been released, covering various complex topics in endocrinology and diabetes.