Center for Medical Simulation

What Center for Medical Simulation does

The Center for Medical Simulation (CMS), based in Boston, MA, is a privately held healthcare simulation education organization that has trained clinicians, educators, and healthcare organizations since its founding in 1993. It operates from a headquarters and training facility at 100 First Avenue in Boston with a second training academy at Edith Cowan University's Health Simulation Centre in Joondalup, Australia, and delivers programs globally through on-site, customer-site ("host a CMS course"), and online/virtual models via its Virtual Campus LMS. The organization serves four primary customer segments: practicing anesthesiologists seeking MOCA Part IV certification; healthcare simulation educators and program leaders; hospital systems and academic medical centers (Brigham and Women's, Massachusetts General, Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston Children's, Newton-Wellesley); and health professions schools pursuing INACSL endorsement.

CMS's product portfolio is anchored by its proprietary methodological IP — Debriefing with Good Judgment®, SimZones, Circle Up©, DASH, ALPS, and Healthcare Adventures™ — which are delivered across instructor training courses (Healthcare Simulation Essentials: Design and Debriefing; Advanced Instructor Course; Simulation Leadership Intensive), clinical team training (MOCA/CRISIS Resource Management, Labor & Delivery CRM), consulting engagements (ALPS, Circle Up implementation), and the Simulation Fellowship Program. The methodology is supported by validated assessment instruments (notably DASH, a psychometrically evaluated debriefing rating tool) and CME/CNE accreditation pathways, with flagship courses awarding up to 33.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. CMS holds endorsement from the American Society of Anesthesiologists and Level 1 accreditation from the American College of Surgeons, and reaches international customers through an Affiliate Program and partner institutions across North America, Australia, and Europe.

Revenue mechanics are professional-services based across five streams: instructor training courses, clinical simulation training (MOCA/ACRM), ALPS consulting and customized services, leadership and management training, and DASH rater training. Pricing is predominantly per-seat pay-as-you-go (DASH Rater Training at $575 per participant; historical MOCA at $1,500 per attendee) with contact-based pricing for enterprise consulting and multi-year contracts for Circle Up implementation. Distribution blends direct enterprise field sales for Boston on-site and customer-site engagements, self-serve/PLG motions for online workshops, and channel/reseller relationships via the Affiliate Program and international partner sites. Founded by simulation pioneers including Dr. Jeff Cooper and now led by Executive Director Dr. Jenny Rudolph, CMS combines academic rigor with commercial delivery across a global footprint spanning US, Australian, and European healthcare ecosystems.

Name

Center for Medical Simulation

Legal name

Center for Medical Simulation

Website

https://harvardmedsim.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Medical Simulation is a Boston-based healthcare simulation education organization founded in 1993 that trains clinicians, educators, and hospital systems worldwide using proprietary debriefing, assessment, and simulation methodologies backed by ASA endorsement and ACS Level 1 accreditation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Simulation Education

NAICS

Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Vertical/Industry-Specific LMS (e.g., Healthcare, Safety, Aviation, Government) (EDAFAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Healthcare & Clinical Professional Development (CME/CE) (EDAGANAJ), Core LMS Platforms (Academic & Corporate) (EDAFAAAA), Healthcare Clinical Professions (CME/CE for Nurses, Allied Health, Pharmacy) (EDAAALAC)

Keywords

• Healthcare simulation training
• Medical education services
• Debriefing methodology training
• Crisis resource management
• Simulation instructor certification

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Simulation Instructor Training Courses: Fees from comprehensive instructor workshops including Healthcare Simulation Essentials: Design and Debriefing (HSEDD), Advanced Instructor Course, and Gateway Debriefing Skills Workshop. Provides CME credits for physicians and certificates for other healthcare providers.
2. Clinical Simulation Training: Crisis management training including MOCA (Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesia) and Anesthesia Crisis Resource Management workshops for practicing clinicians.
3. Consulting and Customized Services: ALPS consulting services for health systems and health professions schools, Circle Up implementation, leadership coaching, and customized organizational development programs.
4. Leadership and Management Training: Healthcare Adventures team training workshops and Simulation Leadership Intensive programs for healthcare executives and managers.
5. DASH Rater Training: Training workshops for experienced debriefers to use the DASH assessment tool, offered online as webinar-based training.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

CMS is a healthcare simulation education organization that trains simulation educators and clinical teams through multi-day instructor workshops, crisis resource management courses (MOCA/Anesthesia and Labor & Delivery CRM), organizational consulting (ALPS), leadership coaching, and trademarked debriefing methodology programs (Debriefing with Good Judgment®, SimZones, Circle Up©). It also licenses the DASH assessment instrument through rater training and delivers its curriculum via an online Virtual Campus LMS, plus on-site and partner-hosted formats globally.

Product overview

The Center for Medical Simulation offers a comprehensive portfolio of healthcare simulation education products and services centered around its flagship Simulation Instructor Training program. The core offerings include the Healthcare Simulation Essentials: Design and Debriefing course (featuring proprietary Debriefing with Good Judgment and SimZones approaches), Advanced Instructor Course, DASH Rater Training Workshop, and Gateway Debriefing Skills Workshop. Clinical training includes Anesthesia MOCA/Crisis Resource Management and Labor & Delivery CRM programs. The portfolio also encompasses the Simulation Fellowship Program, Applied Learning for Performance and Safety (ALPS) consulting services for healthcare organizations, Circle Up team resilience and communication system, Personal Leadership Coaching, Healthcare Adventures team-building workshops, and the Free Open Access Materials (FOAM) resource library. The organization operates a Virtual Campus learning management system to support online and hybrid course delivery. Together, these products form a comprehensive ecosystem for developing simulation educators, improving clinical team performance, and transforming healthcare organizational culture through experiential learning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Simulation Instructor Training A comprehensive suite of courses for simulation leaders, educators, and researchers to develop and maintain high-quality healthcare simulation programs, including the flagship Healthcare Simulation Essentials: Design and Debriefing course featuring the Debriefing with Good Judgment and SimZones approaches.
• Healthcare Simulation Essentials: Design and Debriefing (HSEDD) CMS's flagship 5-day faculty development course preparing simulation program leaders and instructors to design and run simulation programs, featuring Debriefing with Good Judgment and SimZones approaches and offering 33.00 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits.
• Simulation Leadership Intensive An intensive course designed to develop leadership skills for simulation program leaders and educators, focusing on strategic planning and organizational impact.
• Advanced Instructor Course (AIC) Advanced training for experienced simulation instructors to enhance their skills in debriefing, assessment, and program leadership.
• DASH Rater Training Workshop Training workshop teaching how to rigorously assess debriefing quality using the Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare (DASH) instrument, offered online with webinar-based delivery.
• Gateway Debriefing Skills Workshop An introductory workshop to the Debriefing with Good Judgment approach for those new to simulation debriefing, providing foundational skills in reflective conversations.
• Anesthesia MOCA and Crisis Resource Management (CRM) Intensive workshops in Anesthesia Crisis Resource Management (ACRM) for anesthesiologists meeting the MOCA Part IV simulation requirement, focusing on teamwork and skills for managing critical anesthesia events.
• Labor & Delivery: Improving Teamwork and Crisis Resource Management Training for labor and delivery teams focusing on teamwork and crisis resource management to improve patient safety during obstetric emergencies.
• Simulation Fellowship Program An immersive experience in healthcare simulation-based education designed to advance skills as an instructor, debriefer, and leader of simulation-based activities.
• Applied Learning for Performance and Safety (ALPS) Consulting and support services for healthcare systems, hospitals, and health professions schools to transform culture and performance through applied learning ecosystems and improve quality, safety, and team well-being.
• Circle Up A supportive system of work-based briefing, peer check-ins, and debriefing designed to boost clarity, coordination, and resilience in healthcare workforces, originally developed to support clinicians during COVID-19.
• Personal Leadership Coaching One-on-one or group coaching with Jenny Rudolph and the CMS Team to help healthcare professionals find direction, master chaos, and be ready for their leadership roles.
• Healthcare Adventures (HCA) Customized, intensive team-training workshops for leadership and management teams that combine simulated patient experiences in realistic clinical environments with team challenges to improve decision-making, productivity, and performance.
• Affiliate Program A network of affiliated institutions that receive support and endorsement from CMS to implement simulation-based education using CMS methods and curricula, helping affiliates achieve INACSL endorsement.
• Customized Consulting Services Tailored consulting services including short-term projects, coaching, speaking engagements, and providing CMS as a clinical facility for photography or films.
• Usability Testing Services using CMS's simulated clinical environment to test medical devices, equipment, and healthcare technologies with real users in realistic settings.
• Host a CMS Instructor Course CMS delivers instructor courses to customer healthcare organizations, allowing entire teams to train together at their own facilities.
• DASH (Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare) Assessment Instrument An assessment instrument designed to evaluate and develop faculty debriefing and instructional skills, with known psychometric properties applicable across healthcare disciplines and simulation settings.

Quantifiable outcome

• CMS provides 33.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits for flagship course, indicating high-value accredited education.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMS is endorsed by ASA as part of their Simulation Education Network, allowing CMS to provide MOCA Part IV simulation requirements for anesthesiologists seeking maintenance of certification.
• American College of Surgeons (ACS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMS is approved by ACS as a Level 1-Accredited Educational Institute, demonstrating meet of highest standards for simulation education programs.
• Edith Cowan University, ECU Health Simulation CentremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMS delivers Healthcare Simulation Essentials instructor courses at ECU Health Simulation Centre in Joondalup, Western Australia, expanding CMS's international presence.
• University of Southern MainemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Southern Maine achieved INACSL endorsement through CMS's Affiliate Program, demonstrating success of CMS methodology in nursing education.
• University of Maine at AugustamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Maine at Augusta achieved INACSL endorsement through CMS's Affiliate Program for nursing simulation education.
• Mater Education, Queensland, AustraliamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMater Education partners with CMS through webinar participation and shares simulation education expertise; Donna Bonney serves as Executive Director leading diverse simulation programs.
• University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) MedicinemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Marjorie Lee White, VP of Clinical Simulation at UAB Medicine, participates in CMS educational programming; represents CMS methodology influence on major US health system simulation programs.
• Brigham and Women's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMS operates within BWH's STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation; Dr. Andrew Eyre and Dr. Demian Szyld serve as faculty with BWH appointments; hosts anesthesia simulation training.
• Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMGH provides anesthesia residents for CMS training programs including CA-1 Intro Workshop; Dr. Dan Raemer and other faculty have MGH affiliations.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBIDMC anesthesia residents participate in CMS AICRM introductory workshops and ongoing simulation training programs.
• MGH Institute of Health ProfessionsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Janice Palaganas serves as Principal Faculty at CMS while holding position as Associate Director of Health Professions Education at MGH Institute.
• Boston Children's Hospital (BCH)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoston Children's Hospital participates in CMS simulation training programs for pediatric anesthesia and critical care.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Laerdal Medical: Laerdal is a global incumbent in medical simulation, offering manikins, simulation software, and partner programs like SimCapture and the Laerdal Global Health initiative — overlapping with CMS in healthcare simulation education but as part of a much wider product portfolio.
• HealthStream: HealthStream is a broader incumbent in healthcare workforce training, compliance, and credentialing, serving hospitals and health systems at scale — comparable to CMS's enterprise health-system training motion but across a much wider workforce development portfolio.
• Relias: Relias provides online training and workforce development solutions for healthcare and human services organizations, including clinical education — comparable as a healthcare-focused professional training provider serving similar institutional buyers.

Emerging players

• FundamentalVR: FundamentalVR delivers immersive VR simulation for surgical training with haptic feedback, competing for the same healthcare simulation training budgets as CMS but with a fundamentally different technology approach.
• Surgical Science: Surgical Science develops virtual reality simulation training for medical procedures and, through the Simbionix acquisition, serves hospitals and medical schools — an adjacent peer operating in the same simulation-based medical education category.
• SIMTICS: SIMTICS offers web-based simulation training for healthcare procedures and clinical skills — a digital-first competitor overlapping with CMS's clinical simulation training but focused on scalable online delivery.
• VirtaMed: VirtaMed provides high-fidelity virtual reality simulation for surgical and obstetric training — overlapping with CMS's Labor & Delivery CRM and clinical simulation portfolio in specialty procedural training.

Direct peers

• CAE Healthcare: CAE Healthcare is a major provider of simulation-based education solutions for healthcare professionals, offering both training services and simulation technology — directly comparable to CMS's instructor training and clinical simulation portfolio.
• Education Management Solutions (EMS): EMS provides simulation center management software and audio-video capture systems used by healthcare simulation programs — comparable to CMS's Virtual Campus and instructor training infrastructure for managing simulation-based education.

Others

• Medical Training Magazine / Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH): SSH is the leading professional society advancing healthcare simulation, including the IMSH conference and CHSOS/CHSE certifications referenced in CMS materials — an ecosystem enabler rather than direct competitor but a key channel and credentialing body for the category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MedSimulation
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MEDICALSIMULATION
• Facebookfacebook.com/MedicalSimulation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-medical-simulation
• Instagraminstagram.com/centerformedicalsimulation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Medical Simulation