Introduction/Overview/Purpose:

2026 is a celebratory year for the Association of SP Educators (ASPE) as it marks the 25^th anniversary of the organization, though the history and scholarship of SP Methodology dates back to the 1960s [1,2]. This year, I am privileged to serve on the ASPE Board of Directors as the immediate Past President, with a charge to create and implement a Past President’s project. To meet this goal, I am excited to announce a new avenue for publishing ASPE member innovations in short forms, such as conference abstracts or brief innovation reports, in collaboration with a journal partner known for supporting human simulation. The Journal of Healthcare Simulation (JoHS) led by Founding Editor-in-Chief, Professor Debra Nestel, is the perfect choice as she has championed simulated participant (SP) methodology throughout her career including as the editorial steward for the 2017 ASPE Standards of Best Practice (SOPB) article [3]. A key feature of this initiative is that it increases the number of published abstracts to support and encourage further dissemination of ASPE members’ scholarly work [4].

The results are the twenty published abstracts that follow this introduction. The selected abstracts were chosen based on the following criteria: application of work to the ASPE SOPB framework [3], advancement of and/or building on existing SP Methodology, potential for impact beyond a single institution, writing quality, and references. Subcommittee members prioritized abstracts that clearly connected to the ASPE SOBP, furthered SP Methodology, cited references beyond the SOBP, and required little or no revision. Importantly, committee members did not review their own material and recused themselves if they encountered an unexpected conflict. So, the twenty published abstracts in this collection were peer-reviewed initially and accepted to the conference, then peer-reviewed by two separate Short Reports subcommittee members prior to selection for this publication opportunity.

Authors of the selected abstracts include veterans and first-timers. There are 33 individuals who are published here for the first time in a peer-reviewed journal! Congratulations and thanks to all of the authors for their creative, innovative, and thoughtful work, which is furthering our field of Human Simulation and SP Methodology. Finally, to promote inclusion beyond conference attendance, we are pleased to share that an open call will be announced later this summer. Specifically, we have held five short report paper slots for ASPE members, with priority given to members who could not attend the conference, including those outside of the United States. We also hope in publishing these twenty abstracts in this open-access format that we may bring some of the 2026 ASPE conference to those who cannot join us in Saint Louis, MO, USA. In the meantime, happy reading and congratulations, again, to all of these outstanding authors and SP Education professionals!