Simulation Mentorship That Matters with Jason Konzelmann

Simulation isn’t just about cool equipment or a perfect scenario. It’s about building repeatable, trustworthy learning and assessment systems that make clinical education safer, fairer, and more effective. We sit down with Jason Conselman, Director of Simulation and Training at the University of Maryland Medical Center, to unpack how a simulation career can grow from the field to leadership, and why mentorship through programs like SSH Ascend can change what’s possible for new simulationists.

We get practical about healthcare simulation standards, core competencies, and best practices, including how a multi-week course supported by major simulation organizations helps people understand accreditation, clarify goals, and connect certifications like CHSE and CHSOS to real work inside a simulation center. Then we go deeper on a topic that trips up even experienced teams: assessment. Jason explains why “everything we do is assessment,” what makes rubrics usable, how interrater reliability affects fairness, and why validity matters when simulation results influence real decisions.

You’ll also hear a standout interprofessional education story that pairs physical therapists and physician assistant learners in a structured, multi-day experience focused on collaboration and discharge planning, plus a preview of SimOps 2026 in Tampa with the Ignite theme and a spotlight on simulation in non-traditional locations, from mobile units to space medicine. If you’re building a program, refining assessment, or figuring out your place in simulation operations or education, this conversation will give you language, ideas, and next steps. Subscribe, share this with a fellow simulationist, and leave a review with the most urgent assessment question you want answered next.

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Transcript

Disclaimer And Show Setup

Disclaimer/ intro 0:00

The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of anyone at Innovative Sim Solutions or our sponsors. Join our host, Deb Tauber and co-host Jared Jeffries, as they sit down with subject matter experts from across the globe to reimagine clinical education and the use of simulation. So pour yourself a cup of relaxation, sit back, tune in, and learn something new from the Sim Cafe.

Deb Tauber 0:55

Welcome to another episode of The Sim Cafe. And today we are very fortunate to have Jason Konzelmann with us and Jerrod as well as myself. And Jason has done a lot in simulation. He's currently the director of simulation and training at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Prior simulation work activities include New York Simulation Center for Health Sciences. And we're very fortunate to have him today. And Jason, why don't you um tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? You have made so many contributions to simulation, and we're very grateful for that.

Jason Konzelmann 1:35

So thank you. Like you mentioned, I started off at NYU School of Medicine at the New York Simulation Center for Health Sciences, where I kind of learned everything that was that I know today. And I started off as a paramedic with a passion for education, kind of fell into that role, and uh the rest is history. I spent some time at DeSales University in Eastern Pennsylvania and working with PAs, PTs, nursing undergraduate and graduate, and speech language pathology, and transitioned to UCF College of Medicine, and now I'm at uh the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Deb Tauber 2:14

And how long have you been at the University of Maryland Medical Center?

Jason Konzelmann 2:17

I've been here for a long time of about six months. Uh just transitioned up here in October.

Jerrod Jeffries 2:24

And that's quite the range, Jason. I mean, you went from Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland. So you've you've got to learn under a lot of great people then as well.

Jason Konzelmann 2:34

Yeah, I've I've been very fortunate to have many great mentors, both where I work and and through the Society for Simulation and Healthcare. And I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to now mentor some people who are just getting into simulation as well.

Jerrod Jeffries 2:53

Wonderful. And speaking of the uh Society for Simulation and Healthcare, is there anything that you're doing within that organization as well?

Standards And Best Practices Course

Jason Konzelmann 3:01

So uh from mentorship, I do uh just started with the Ascend program. I have one mentee this year for that program. Uh it's a very exciting program to be able to help people in their first six years of simulation uh to kind of get their feet under them, to know what they need to do to be successful in the job and what opportunities lie ahead if they're in if they're just getting started. Wonderful.

Deb Tauber 3:29

Yeah. Now, why don't you talk a little bit about the standard core competencies and best practices for some of the different organizations like ASPI, INAXCL, as well as a society, and what are some of the differences and similarities between them?

Jason Konzelmann 3:44

Sure. So the standards, core competencies, and best practices and healthcare simulation program is sponsored by those three entities, ASPI and Axel and SSH. And together we have a four-week asynchronous and synchronous program that goes over all of the best practices within simulation. It talks about goals and purposes for accreditation, goals and purposes for individual certifications as both the certified healthcare simulation educator, certified healthcare simulation operations specialist, and really having the opportunity to again mentor new folks and mentor people who are just changing in, changing roles and they want to know more. It's wonderful to interact with people literally from across the globe. I've had people from Belize and Canada and overseas in Europe. It's just been a wonderful opportunity to both network for myself as well as help people learn about simulation.

Deb Tauber 4:45

So is it a meeting? Is it a what what do you guys do? How do you how is it?

Jason Konzelmann 4:49

So yeah, it's a course that's run, I believe, enroll through the SSH website. And I know there's a fee to it. I don't know what that fee is at this point, but uh ultimately it's one hour of asynchronous time uh for videos and then about an hour of of networking and follow-up and the ask your questions uh course each week. Each week is sponsored by a different simulation entity. The first and fourth weeks are sponsored by the Society for Simulation and Healthcare, and the second and third weeks, one is by ASPE going over the uh best practices in SP education, and then an Axel really going over the healthcare simulation standards best practice.

Deb Tauber 5:35

Great. How long has this been going on?

Jason Konzelmann 5:38

I'm not sure when it started, but I've been a part of it for about three years now.

Deb Tauber 5:44

And how many times is it offered a year?

Jason Konzelmann 5:46

It's offered about six times a year. It's basically four weeks. As this year, we have March, April, May, August, September, and October dates planned for this year.

Deb Tauber 5:58

And if our listeners were interested, how would they, where would they go to to sign up?

Jason Konzelmann 6:03

Uh it's on SSIH.org.

Deb Tauber 6:05

Okay.

Jason Konzelmann 6:06

And search for the best practices workshop.

Deb Tauber 6:09

Okay.

Jason Konzelmann 6:10

I believe it's listed in the live learning center.

Creating An Assessment Affinity Group

Deb Tauber 6:14

Thanks. Now, I know you've done, once again, you've done a lot in simulation. Tell us a little bit about the assessment affinity group.

Jason Konzelmann 6:26

So I started the assessment affinity group about two years ago with the lofty goal of coalescing ideas around simulation use for assessment. Having been in multiple institutions, I've seen multiple ways of asking similar questions. And the assessment rubric itself, the simulation scenario, and the interrator reliability all are passions of mine. And when I sought to find some answers to that from more experienced people than myself, I didn't find anything. And sure, I could have gone to the open forum on SimConnect or any of a variety of other places, but there was nothing dedicated to assessment. And really everything we do is assessment, whether it's formative or summative, or it's for technical skills like history and physical exam, or if it's more softer skills like communications and interpersonal skills, uh, there was no place to go for kind of one answer or a best practice. And so the assessment affinity group was started with that lofty goal to come up with some of the best practices in in simulation related to related to assessment.

Deb Tauber 7:47

Thank you. Now, I I think when we're doing for accreditation purposes, when we're doing assessment, I think some people can get confused with assessment and just will you know put into their application a course like ACLS or PALS or and that's not essentially what we're looking for in this.

Jason Konzelmann 8:08

No, I mean it can be. That can be certainly part of your assessment focus for your simulation center. But for me, it really came out of the standardized patients and simulated patients, grading scoring, what those rubrics look like, what the questions look like, is there best practices around question design? Are there practices that make for better enterrator reliability, make for better validity of the exams? Those pieces are all things that really I wanted to bring together some experts in the area. And there's there's a tremendous amount of interest. And additionally, as you mentioned, there's there's an assessment accreditation, but really no way to group people together. And you know, hopefully that people who are really interested or really expert in a simulation, uh, in a simulation assessment, excuse me, they can they can find a forum there to share what they've found to be best practices.

Deb Tauber 9:13

And how long have you been working with this group? How long have you?

Jason Konzelmann 9:17

It's only been in existence for about two years.

Deb Tauber 9:19

Okay.

Jason Konzelmann 9:20

So it started in, I want to say, the summer of 2024. And within the within the group, we've we've tried to have some working groups to really focus on on those areas. And some have had success in presenting at IMSH this most re and most recent time, and some have just been accepted to INASCL conference to present. So it's starting to gain some momentum, I hope.

An Interprofessional Simulation Success Story

Deb Tauber 9:47

Great. That's great. Thank you for your contributions to that work. It's very important. Thank you. Do you have a favorite simulation story? You've been in simulation for a long time, you've had a lot of experiences, and I'm curious if you've got a favorite story.

Jason Konzelmann 10:03

My favorite thing that I've done, I think, over my time has been to create an interprofessional experience between physician assistants and physical therapists at a previous institution. As I said, assessment and IPE are probably passions of mine when it comes to simulation. And so being able to create that with some wonderful people really has been enduring. It's turned out to be the simulation that both groups look forward to each summer. And it really represents the idea that interprofessional experience doesn't have to put everybody in the same room at the same time for the assessment of the patient. And so over two days, this session runs, and it runs for then four weeks. So two weeks a day, four weeks out of the summer. And physical therapists, they they came and they did an actual assessment. They were scored on their interaction with the patient. They each had different patients that they had to work with. They worked with them for an hour at a time. The next morning, physician assistants they saw three of the four cases that were possible from the day before from a medical perspective. And then the initial version of this was to determine how would they discharge those patients if they were responsible for it. Where would they discharge them to? How many days from now, from the day you're seeing them until their expected date of discharge? Initially, it was found out that these were very different time frames and sometimes very different locations. They were then brought together. The PAs who saw, let's say, case A were matched with the PT that's also saw case A, and they had a collaboration for about a half an hour to determine that. Then that was followed by a big rounding experience where everybody got to see all four patients and discuss the benefits, the merits, the treatment, the outcomes, and the discharge for them. And then they had a huge debriefing. So a wonderful experience, lots of learning that actually resulted in the faculty of those departments cross-pollinating and teaching in the different programs so that these students actually had an overall better experience. It's been enduring, it's generated lots of uh literature related to interprofessional education. And each year, and even though I'm not there anymore, they still continue to tweak it and do something different each year with that program. They've introduced concepts such as social determinants of health, ageism, and other differences that they can institute with only of maintaining basically the same structure.

Jerrod Jeffries 12:57

That's wonderful. I love that, Jason. And I mean, building building the foundation is the most important as anybody, anybody who lives in the house knows that you want a solid foundation to keep going there. So really, really rewarding and inspiring, really.

Jason Konzelmann 13:11

Yeah, and it really highlighted the idea that you didn't need to have everybody in the same place and being able to, but they're still able to learn from, with, and towards one another. And that really gets to the IPEC competencies.

Deb Tauber 13:28

And I think those two different disciplines are smaller compared to like nursing or physicians. You know, you have the physical therapy as well as the PAs. And I think putting those two groups together makes a lot of sense.

Jason Konzelmann 13:45

And we had to figure out for that how to make two very disparate groups be able to make sense. And so we had there were only 28 PTs compared to 80 physical physician assistants. So they each had to have a reasonable way to interact, made sense for the room, and that that was what we came up with. And like I said, it's been enduring. The standardized patients love actually being a part of that as well. And so it really works for everybody involved.

Deb Tauber 14:17

And have you been able to implement that in the University of Maryland?

SimOps 2026 Theme And Keynotes

Jason Konzelmann 14:22

Uh not yet, but there is a lot of interest in IPE, of course. And so being able to find ways to do that, just being creative and trying to meet the objectives of each group while also meeting some interprofessional objectives, you know, that's the great challenge that I find to be the most fun. Yeah.

Deb Tauber 14:41

I know that you're very involved with SimOps 2026. Why don't you share with us what's what this is about this year, where it's at, who's involved, and what are some of the things that we're going to see?

Jason Konzelmann 14:55

Sure. I'm very fortunate to be uh on the planning team with two other great co-planners, Phil Wortham and Melissa Milner. This year it's going to be in Camels, the Center for Learning and Simulation at the University of South Florida and Tampa. Our theme this year is Ignite. So we want to ignite everybody's interest in simulation, ignite their passions, and uh really help them meet their goals. We've traditionally focused on operations specialists, operations professionals, but we want to engage the educators this year as well to really reinforce the idea that we're part of the same team, uh, that we can all work together towards the same goal, and that we all bring something very important to the table. We're also looking at concepts of simulation in non-traditional locations. So, of course, we have simulation in Site 2, right? We have simulation uh in the simulation centers. Those are kind of traditional, but where else are we doing simulation that's maybe a little less traditional? So we're looking to have the simulation centers that have RVs for simulation that go on the road and do simulation in doctors' offices when the doctor's offices are closed or in other locations. And we have one of our keynote speakers this year is uh Dr. Manny Erquieta, and his responsibilities for space medicine at the University of Central Florida. So he does simulation in non-traditional spaces like aircraft and spacecraft in order to prepare astronauts for the potential uh for having to take care of medical issues in space where they can't communicate readily. Communication is a 40-minute delay, and the medical issues coming back from space and return to Earth are very different from anything that we experience for people who are you know just land dwellers like ourselves. And so he'll bring a very interesting perspective. Our other keynote speaker, Dr. Remy Rowe, he's had quite an interesting professional arc into simulation from his military experiences through being a leader in simulation. So we hope that he can ignite other people's ideas about where they can go in this career.

Deb Tauber 17:20

Yeah, that sounds really exciting. We interviewed Rami uh a couple months ago. He was pretty excited about this opportunity as well.

Jason Konzelmann 17:28

He he's a fascinating human, and I think he will he will bring a lot of excitement to people who attend. I hope a lot of people can attend both of their presentations as well as all the other great conference presentations that we are still working our way through.

Deb Tauber 17:43

When is this going to occur?

Jason Konzelmann 17:45

So SimOps is going to be July 15th through the 17th. The 15th is going to be the pre-conference day. So the 16th and 17th is the actual conference day down in Tampa. Down in Tampa.

Deb Tauber 17:58

And can people still turn in any abstracts or is abstracts closed?

Jason Konzelmann 18:04

So the abstract and presentation submission period has ended. We're doing reviews now. They should be going out in about a month, month and a half or so. Um mid-April is our target for getting that back to everybody. And registration should be opening very soon, if not already.

Deb Tauber 18:21

Oh, great. Okay. Early bird registration. Do they have that?

Jason Konzelmann 18:26

I don't have the date offhand for the registration, but they can go S SIH.org and go to SimOps and see when that opens.

Words Of Wisdom And Contact Info

Deb Tauber 18:34

Perfect. Now, do you have any closing words of wisdom you would like to leave our fellow simulationists with?

Jason Konzelmann 18:43

I think simulation is fascinating, a fascinating job, a fascinating direction to go for people who do or do not have healthcare experience. Technicians, technologically oriented information systems uh individuals can find a home in simulation, as well as people who want to do health care, or maybe maybe they're paramedics like me who just don't want to be on the street full-time anymore. They can find a way to still be involved with simulation, with education, with medicine, and really make an impact. The sky's the limit, and all you need is a good imagination to come up with what you need to do to meet the objectives of faculty.

Deb Tauber 19:32

I would agree with that. Now, Jason, if our listeners want to get a hold of you, where would they do that?

Jason Konzelmann 19:38

So anybody's more than welcome to email me at Jason.Konzelmann@umm.edu. And I'm happy to be a mentor to anybody outside of this, outside of work as well.

Jerrod Jeffries 19:52

Fascinating. Well, thank you so much, Jason. This was wonderful. All right.

Deb Tauber 19:56

Thank you so much. We appreciate your time and your commitment to simulation.

Jason Konzelmann 20:00

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate being here. Look forward to it.

Deb Tauber 20:04

Okay. Happy simulating.

Disclaimer/ intro 20:14

Thanks for joining us here at the Sim Cafe. We hope you enjoyed. Visit us at www.innovative simsolutions.com. And be sure to hit that like and subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Innovative Sim Solutions is your one stop shop for your simulation needs. A turnkey solution.