Cultural Considerations in the Formal Process of Simulation Curriculum Adaptation: A Scoping Review

Transborder curriculum partnerships in health professions education have been increasing in numbers in recent years. These partnerships present unique challenges when transferring curricula from one context to another. It has been noted that cultural differences between institutions, faculty, staff, and learners can have profound effects on collaboration. Given the significant need for context and fidelity (especially relative to cultural considerations) in healthcare simulation education, there are gaps that need to be addressed in the transfer of these curricula. A scoping literature review was conducted examining recently published articles with relevance to simulation curriculum design or adaptation in transborder contexts to determine to what extent cultural elements are considered in the design and adaptation of simulation-based education in transborder curriculum partnerships. This review resulted in 19 studies requiring full-text review. Studies represented every region of the world with both near and distant proximity of partnering parties. From the reviewed studies, 8 categories related to curriculum adaptation were identified. These categories, when compared with the themes present in Campinha-Bacote's model of cultural competency, showed complete overlap with the 5 themes of the model plus an additional theme complementary to the model. This scoping review demonstrates that cultural considerations clearly play a role in the adaptation of simulation curricula in transborder healthcare curricular partnerships, but further research is needed to further define the exact nature of that relationship.