From Digital Twins to Procedural Rehearsal: The Next Generation of Simulation in Cardiovascular Medicine and Education

Cardiovascular medicine is changing at unprecedented speed. Yet, despite extraordinary advances in imaging, devices, interventions, surgery, and digital technologies, the way we train cardiovascular professionals has remained surprisingly traditional. The classical apprenticeship model, see one, do one, teach one, is increasingly difficult to reconcile with highly complex procedures, shorter training times, limited exposure to rare conditions, and, above all, our responsibility to protect patients.Simulation offers the opportunity to change this paradigm: from learning on patients to learning before patients. It also exemplifies the kind of digital, technology enabled, patient centered innovation that General Cardiovascular Medicine exists to capture, bringing the same rigor we now expect of clinical evidence to how we prepare the people who deliver that care.This Research Topic aims to explore how simulation can reshape education and training across the entire spectrum of cardiovascular medicine. From patient specific 3D printed hearts to virtual and augmented reality, high fidelity simulators, artificial intelligence, digital twins, procedural rehearsal, and team based simulation, new technologies are creating environments in which knowledge, technical skills, decision making, and even management of complications can be acquired, tested, repeated, and objectively assessed without exposing patients to unnecessary risk.This special issue aims to capture this educational transformation by bringing together clinicians, cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, engineers, imaging specialists, educators, data scientists, psychologists, technology developers, and innovators who are redefining how cardiovascular medicine is taught. Consistent with the section’s focus on diverse research perspectives and patient centered care, we particularly welcome contributions that consider how simulation based training translates into measurable improvements in disease understanding, clinical decision making, and ultimately patient outcomes, rather than technology adoption for its own sake.We particularly welcome contributions addressing simulation in echocardiography, cardiovascular imaging, interventional cardiology, structural heart interventions, electrophysiology, cardiac and congenital heart disease and surgery, acute and emergency cardiovascular care, and multidisciplinary team training. Importantly, we also encourage work exploring simulation as a tool to reduce inequalities in cardiovascular education, particularly in low resource settings where access to highly specialized training remains limited, directly reflecting the section’s emphasis on cross cultural, environmental, and geographic context in cardiovascular care.We invite Brief Research Reports; Case Report; Clinical Study Protocol; Clinical Trial; Community Case Study; Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy; Editorial; General Commentary; Hypothesis and Theory; Methods; Mini Review; Opinion; Original Research; Perspectives; Policy and Practice Review; Policy Brief; Reviews; Specialty Grand Challenge; Study Protocol; Systematic Review; and innovative educational or technological studies evaluating novel simulation approaches, their validation, implementation, cost effectiveness, and impact on skills, clinical performance, and patient outcomes that challenge traditional educational paradigms and help shape the future of cardiovascular training.The question is no longer whether simulation will become part of cardiovascular education, but how far it can transform the way we learn, teach, and ultimately care for our patients. Topic editors: Roberto Ferrari, Alessandro Frigiola Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85006/from-digital-twins-to-procedural-rehearsal-the-next-generation-of-simulation-in-cardiovascular-medicine-and-education