Exploring the role of self-led debriefings within simulation-based education: time to challenge the status quo?

The current evidence suggests that SLDs can, in the right circumstances, form part of an effective debriefing strategy and support learners to reach appropriate levels of critical self-reflection and learning. Careful consideration and due diligence must go into the design and implementation of SLDs to augment the advantages of this debriefing format, such as enhancing flexibility and learner autonomy, whilst mitigating potential risks, such as reinforcing errors and biases or causing psychological harm. In situations where resources for facilitator-led debriefings (FLDs) are limited, simulation educators should recognise SLDs as a potential avenue to explore in their local contexts. By leveraging the strengths of both formats, balancing learner autonomy and expert guidance, a combined SLD and FLD approach may yet prove to be the optimal debriefing strategy to maximise learning. Whilst more research is needed to deepen our understanding of the nuances of SLDs to assess their true applicability across the spectrum of SBE, the time may now have arrived to consider challenging the status quo.