AHRQ's Healthcare Simulation Dictionary, Version 3.0 (PDF, 1.8 MB), includes 170 definitions of healthcare simulation terms ranging from “avatars” and “manikins” to “gamification” and “virtual reality.”  The definitions, developed by international simulation experts, standardize the growing list of simulation terms in this rapidly expanding field.  AHRQ partnered with the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) and its international affiliates to develop the dictionary to enhance communication and clarity for healthcare simulationists in teaching, education, assessment, and research.  This 3rd version of the Healthcare Simulation Dictionary reflects the increasing appreciation of simulation’s beneficial applications in patient safety and healthcare delivery improvements.  Patient safety terminology to support this progress has been added to the definitions in this dictionary, and links to additional patient safety information and other resources from AHRQ have been added.  Simulation can be used to create a safe learning environment for healthcare researchers and practitioners to test new clinical processes and enhance individual and team skills in a given technique or procedure before touching patients, thereby enhancing patient safety.  Some examples of this simulation work include inserting ultrasound-guided central venous catheters, diagnosing skin cancer, identifying sepsis, and measuring laparoscopic surgical skills.  AHRQ has funded simulation research for more than 2 decades as part of its patient safety mission.  This research has expanded the knowledge about how to use simulation to make care safer in a variety of clinical settings.