12 Questions to Ask Before Buying Medical Simulation Software

A demonstration always looks impressive. These are the questions that tell you whether the software will still be in use two years after you buy it. Ask every supplier the same ones, including us.

About the content

• 1. Which of our courses does it cover, outcome by outcome? Ask for a mapping, not a brochure.
• 2. Does it follow the standards our students are examined on, or another country's?
• 3. Can content be adapted or added for our curriculum, and who does that work?

About running it here

• 4. Does it work without internet? Ask to see it running with the connection switched off.
• 5. What equipment does it need, and can students use it without a headset?
• 6. What happens during a power cut, and how long do the headsets run on a charge?

About teaching with it

• 7. Can lecturers set tasks and see each student's results, or is it only a practice tool?
• 8. Is every attempt recorded with enough detail to mark it?
• 9. Can a lecturer run a whole class through a session together?

About the supplier

• 10. Who do we call when something goes wrong, and where are they? A supplier in your own time zone answers the same day.
• 11. How is it priced: per student, per device or per site? In which currency, and what happens at renewal?
• 12. Who owns our students' results, and can we export them?

How to use the answers

Put the answers in a table, one supplier per column. Two things usually stand out. The first is how many products are practice tools with no way for a lecturer to assign or assess work. The second is how many depend on infrastructure the campus does not reliably have.

Then ask for a pilot with one course before signing for the whole institution. A supplier confident in their product will agree.