/ SSWorks /
Faculty Notes Recent news and accomplishments
Simulation Gets Real
Sequence to Senior Director of Practicum Learning Katya Cerar, Ph.D. ’13, she recalls, “It seemed like a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t we do it?” Issues facing behavioral health providers—increased staff turnover, more demand, higher acuity, greater caseloads and added responsibilities for clinicians—may result in students getting less supervision, training and mentoring. “Students are being asked to hit the ground running versus learning on the scene,” said Cerar. “Simulation can fill these gaps.” A year ago, Asakura, Cerar and Director of M.S.W. Practicum Learning Arianne Napier-White, M.S.W. ’15 teamed up to include simulation in the practicum seminar. Adjunct
Professor Kenta Asakura, Senior Director of Practicum Learning Katya Cerar, and Director of M.S.W. Practicum Learning Arianne Napier-White worked together last fall to begin planning the simulation trainings that are being incorporated into practicum learning.
Assistant Professor Huey Hawkins, M.S.W., Ph.D., wrote the case study and worked with the actors (sourced from UMass Chan Medical School). Starting in January, simulation will give students opportunities to safely practice
When Kenta Asakura, M.S.W. ’07, Ph.D., joined the SSW faculty in 2022, he came with a national reputation for expertise in simulation-based clinical education—and eager to collaborate with SSW faculty and staff to put simulation to use. In a simulation, students interact with trained actors who play clients. Used for years in medical schools, this form of experiential learning has been more recently adopted by social work programs. “The world is more complex, client issues more complicated than in the past,” said Asakura. “You can’t continue to do what worked in the last century.” When he broached the idea of using simulation in the Practicum
/ 10 /
S M I T H COL L E G E SCHO O L FO R SO CIAL WO RK
assessing, interviewing and getting to know a client. It may also help them develop the sensitivity needed to navigate differences related to race, class, gender and identity. Carefully created simulations encourage students to consider how their values, attitudes, backgrounds and identities influence their interactions with clients and how structural racism, for instance, affects a client’s “everyday realities,” in Asakura’s words. It’s a good fit with what SSW students want, Hawkins believes. “They tend to be passionate about recognizing the nuances of life for all types of people. They understand that these are things to think about and wrestle with.” Napier-White facilitated a series of simulation trainings for the practicum seminar instructors. “I was excited to see how the instructors came alive,” she said. “They engaged with the material, they asked thoughtful questions. It’s a pedagogical tool instructors can make their own.” Feedback, noted Napier-White, is a key part of the process, with instructors encouraging students to reflect on how it went, then offering their thoughts on the students’ reflections. Like Cerar and Napier-White, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Megan Harding, M.S.W. ’07, jumped at the chance to work with Asakura. “We share an interest in extending the use of simulation into ongoing professional learning,” she said. “It was a very exciting process—it’s not as simple as it looks. There could be no better source than Kenta. He supplied the tools, the materials, the process, even the ‘pro tips,’ to get us started on thinking about integrating simulation into faculty support.” They added simulation to the pre-summer orientation for SSW instructors to give them practice using an accountability process for handling ruptures that arise in class.
