Background Leadership and teamwork skills are essential components of medical education. Simulation via Instant Messaging-Birmingham Advance (SIMBA) is an innovative simulation-based learning tool mainly delivered by medical students and junior doctors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SIMBA on leadership and teamwork skills of medical students and junior doctors during COVID-19.

Methods All medical students and junior doctors involved in the delivery of SIMBA were invited to complete the Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ) and Teamwork Skills Questionnaire (TSQ) assessing their views pre-SIMBA and post-SIMBA involvement. The changes in scores were analysed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Open-ended questions were reviewed in an inductive thematic analysis.

Results A total of 33 SIMBA team members completed both questionnaires. There was improvement in all traits measured in the LTQ and TSQ, significant in 9/14 LTQ traits, and all 6 TSQ traits (p<0.05). ‘Decision making’ had the highest improvement (p<0.0001). Response to open-ended questions reported positive effects on personal development, medical professionalism, communication skills and medical/clinical knowledge.

Conclusions SIMBA is an effective model to inculcate leadership and teamwork skills among medical students and junior doctors. Prospective studies are underway to assess long-term impact.