Simulation Training: A Powerful Tool to Bridge Theory and Practice
As a fourth-year medical student, Colleen Donovan, faced a pivotal moment during a course that introduced her to a simulated scenario: working with a team to save a patient in cardiac arrest. It was a powerful “gut check.”
“I remember being terrified, realizing that someday, maybe soon, I would encounter a critically ill patient, and the only thing standing between that patient and death would be my skills,” said Donovan, director of the simulation program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). Donovan also serves in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility.
She spent hours reading and memorizing, but retaining the information under pressure proved challenging. Then, a lightbulb went on.
During her residency at the University of Pennsylvania, Donovan realized she needed a way to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical patient care. She became an advanced cardiovascular life support instructor at the Penn Medicine Clinical Simulation Center, which used high-tech manikins to teach critical care.
“I thought that if I had to create repeatable lessons for my students, the act of teaching would reinforce the fluency I was striving for,” she said.
Today, Donovan, an associate professor at RWJMS and an emergency medicine physician, is widely regarded as a leader in medical simulation. She has received numerous honors, including the Outstanding EMS Physician award from the state of New Jersey. Recently, she earned the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator-Advanced credential, which recognizes advanced skills, leadership, and significant contributions to healthcare simulation.
As of August, 131 individuals from 14 countries hold this certification.
Donovan said she views hands-on training – using lifelike manikins that mimic human physiology – as a powerful way to build confidence and prepare students for the broad scope of challenges they’ll face in their careers.
“Our goal is to have medical students who are ready to care for patients,” she said. “The pace of hospital work is high stress, and simulation provides a safe, realistic environment where they can navigate complex situations, make decisions, build skills and even make mistakes – without risking harm to patients or themselves.”
Simulation-based learning is required for all RWJMS medical students. Training takes place in a renovated space in the Medical Education Building, where learners work
with four manikins – named Robert, Roberta, Bobby and Baby – that represent a man, a woman, a young boy and an infant. Rutgers students also have access to additional simulation technology and resources through partnerships with the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, the School of Nursing and the School of Health Professions.
The versatility of simulation technology allows integration across nearly all medical disciplines.
“Almost any cue from a real patient can be programmed into a manikin,” Donovan said. “These specialized simulators can blink, breathe, talk, bleed, be born, give birth, die and a million options in between.”
Since becoming director of the RWJMS simulation program in 2014, Donovan has developed and overseen more than 100 simulation cases, ranging from routine clinical practice to life-threatening emergencies. Scenarios have included a patient with unstable atrial fibrillation requiring electrical therapy, a febrile child with sickle cell disease, a post-operative patient in septic shock and a stroke patient requiring rapid intervention to prevent long-term disability as well as multisystem trauma resuscitation.
Training exercises are followed by debriefings, where students review their performance, receive feedback and sharpen both technical and communication skills.
“Collaboration and clear communication are the foundation of teamwork in health care,” Donovan said, “whether it’s making decisions during a high-stakes emergency or addressing a patient’s concerns.”
Les Barta, director of the simulation technology program at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and a doctoral candidate in education, works collaboratively with Donovan to expand simulation learning at Rutgers Health, designing immersive training environments that prepare the next generation of health care professionals to meet the challenges of modern medicine.
“Colleen has been instrumental in helping reimagine the future of interdisciplinary health care training,” Barta said. “She’s not only a brilliant educator but also a thoughtful collaborator, blending technical expertise with a deep commitment to interpersonal skills. Her work equips students with the confidence, competence and teamwork needed to excel in patient care.”
Now, Barta and Donovan are partnering on the next chapter for simulation learning at Rutgers Health: the upcoming relocation of the RWJMS Simulation Program to the Health + Life Sciences Exchange (Helix), the new home for the medical school.
The facility – slated to open in June 2026 – will feature 20 state-of-the-art patient exam rooms, two large resuscitation bays/operating rooms for manikin-based simulation and a standardized patient classroom where trained medical actors bring scenarios to life.
Looking ahead, Donovan is excited about the program’s expansion and remains committed to creating realistic, immersive training experiences that equip students with the skills and mindset to handle high-pressure situations.
“What it really comes down to is giving students the confidence to step up, stay calm and figure it out – no matter what comes in the door,” she said.
