Surgical Simulation and Competency.

Simulation in surgical training is playing an increasingly important role as postgraduate medical education programs navigate an environment of increasing costs of education, increased attention on patient safety, and new duty hour restrictions. In obstetrics and gynecology, simulation has been used to teach many procedures; however, it lacks a standardized curriculum. Several different simulators exist for teaching various routes and aspects of hysterectomy. This article describes how a formal framework of increasing levels of competencies can be applied to simulation in teaching the procedure of hysterectomy.