Are Educators Actually Coaches? The Implication of Teaching and Learning via Simulation in Education in Healthcare Professions

Simulation is a unique pedagogical tool designed specifically to develop skills, attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge using experiential learning. Though the teachers in the field of simulation are known as educators, they are generally categorized as educators or coaches and must employ unique pedagogic approaches. Though the aspects of educating and coaching are similar, there are numerous differences that set the two roles apart. Thus, the purpose of this editorial is to highlight the differences between the two roles and also to contextualize their differences, as they relate to simulation in healthcare professions, teaching, and learning. The fundamental proposition of this editorial is to highlight that the teachers who use simulation as their teaching and learning technology function as coaches and not educators as they are currently labeled. Like Haji et al. propose in their article titled "What we call what we do affects how we do it: a new nomenclature for simulation research in medical education," we propose that there needs to be a slight shift in the nomenclature of simulation.