Imperfect practice makes perfect: error management training improves transfer of learning.

Simulation is frequently used as an educational tool in health care. Investigators observed two groups of medical students during simulated ultrasound training. One group was encouraged to make mistakes during the training and the other was instructed to avoid errors during the simulation as much as possible. The students then applied skills learned to real patients. The authors concluded that students encouraged to make mistakes during simulation demonstrated improved transfer of learning to the clinical environment.