Training medical personnel to maintain readiness for medical emergencies and combat-related operations is a critical problem. Distance learning solutions are required for enabling effective training while minimizing time away from the important on-the-job duties of providing quality medical care. Simulation-based training can significantly benefit learners by providing opportunities for hands on training. A simulation by itself, however, is not sufficient to enable learning. It must be accompanied by opportunities for reflection and a chance for learners to try their skills under different conditions. This means a simulation-based training course should include several scenarios. The high cost of developing and administering training scenarios renders this infeasible.

We have developed a simulation-based training framework called SimCore that incorporates intelligent, automated assessment and coaching in support of self-paced learning. This reduces the need for human facilitators. A key feature of this framework is an authoring tool that supports rapid scenario development and customization and is designed for use by subject matter experts and course developers. This brings down the cost of scenario development. The system has been designed to interface easily with third-party simulators, with minimal effort. It also includes a Flash-based simulator that can be played on a web-browser.

A beta version of SimCore is currently being distributed for evaluation.