Poor interprofessional communication and teamwork are now well recognised as significant contributors to adverse events in healthcare (Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 2000). These ‘non-technical skills’(Fletcher et al., 2003) are particularly pertinent in high-hazard areas such as obstetric settings, operating rooms, emergency departments and intensive care units (Guise & Segel, 2008; Manser, 2009). Recognition of the magnitude of these teamwork issues has led to calls for improved interprofessional training in many areas of healthcare (Kohn et al., 2000), which has resulted in an increase of a range of team-based simulation activities over the past few years (Reeves, Lewin, Espin, & Zwarenstein, 2010).

As four authors–two of us anaesthesia clinicians (SS, SB) both working in interprofessional teams and developing interprofessional simulated learning activities, and two of us academics (SK, SR) with expertise in interprofessional education and practice–we have been discussing the uses, and abuses, of interprofessional simulated learning. In this editorial, we examine some of the current limitations of this learning modality. We also suggest the use of a sociological approach to help enhance the quality of this form of learning and improve its transferability to interprofessional practice.