Enhancing and ensuring competence through simulation highlights the intentional use of simulation-based learning to develop, assess, and sustain clinical competence in respiratory therapy education. As respiratory care practice continues to develop in complexity, educational programs must ensure graduates are clinically prepared, adaptable, and patient safety focused upon entry into professional practice. Simulation provides a structured, evidence-based approach to support these outcomes while maintaining alignment with accreditation standards and programmatic goals. With the updated CoARC standards, including the utilization of simulation as support to clinical education, this session will explore how simulation can be integrated across the respiratory care curriculum to reinforce competency-based education, clinical reasoning, and psychomotor skill development. Emphasis will be placed on aligning simulation activities with measurable student learning outcomes and effective assessment strategies. In addition, the presentation will address best practices in simulation design, facilitation, and debriefing to ensure educational effectiveness and consistency. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to leverage simulation as a tool for enhancing student performance, interprofessional education, supporting accreditation requirements, and ultimately improving patient care outcomes in respiratory therapy education.

This session explores the implementation of an active shooter simulation designed to prepare healthcare learners for one of the most challenging and high-risk emergencies they may encounter. Attendees gain practical insight into how simulation-based education can be used to develop situational awareness, communication, and decision-making skills in a controlled, psychologically safe environment. This session equips educators with actionable strategies to enhance emergency preparedness training while maintaining professionalism, ethical responsibility, and learner well-being.

As the learning needs and preferences of our students evolve, instructors continue to work to find innovative opportunities and strategies to engage students with both the content and one another. Carousel case studies are a cooperative learning strategy that requires students to make cohesive individual decisions toward a group goal. This discussion will investigate the advantages of team-based learning strategies aimed at building critical thinking ability on an individual level.