Beyond didactics: Simulation-based education in hematology/oncology training—A scoping review.

Abstract

e21010 Background: Clinical oncology exposure in residency is often varied and limited, contributing to difficulty in transitioning to fellowship. Simulation-based education (SBE) is one of the established approaches in graduate medical education (GME) to develop clinical reasoning, procedural skills, teamwork, and high-stakes communication. We present a scoping review of the applications of SBE among medical professionals in the field of hematology/oncology, aiming to map the existing literature on effectiveness and implementation. Methods: PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched for original articles in English, published from 2016 to January 2026. Inclusion criteria included simulation education involving medical professionals (residents, fellows, physicians) with hematology and/or oncology-related content. We excluded studies focused primarily on surgical techniques or procedural skills; anesthesiology or obstetrics/gynecology; point-of-care ultrasound; or non-SBE interventions. Two researchers adhered to the PRISMA-ScR checklist and independently screened titles and abstracts; potentially eligible articles underwent full-text review. Data were charted from included studies. Results: The search yielded 483 articles; 40 underwent full-text review, and 19 were selected for final analysis. Studies were conducted mainly in the United States (15/19, 79%), with additional articles from Canada, Switzerland, Germany, and China. Simulation methods included virtual simulation, natural-language processing based patient avatars, role-play, and simulated patients and computer-based case simulation. Learners were mostly Fellows in Hematology and Oncology, but studies also included medical students, and interprofessional practitioners. Simulation-based education was applied across diverse competency domains, mostly in communication or palliative care-focused training. Other areas include clinical management, systems-based practice (root cause analysis, resource stewardship), diagnostics and disease specific learning with case-based scenarios, and therapy and procedural skills (chemotherapy prescribing, bone marrow biopsy). Intervention duration ranged from brief 30-minute sessions to multi-day workshops. Conclusions: Simulation-based education in hematology/oncology can be applied widely to different clinical settings, but is concentrated in communication-based training. Further studies could utilize virtual simulation, and expand simulation to include clinical and systems based scenarios to improve education in the field, which may help reduce resource barriers and promote more equitable access to high-quality training.