Staff from Binghamton University’s Information Technology Services and Decker College of Nursing and Health Services recently collaborated to create the SUNY Share Simulation and IPE Activity Repository.

SUNY Share is an accessible, open-source platform that expands educational opportunities by revolutionizing how healthcare simulation and interprofessional education (IPE) activity materials are shared across the SUNY system and beyond. By providing a centralized hub for peer-reviewed learning experiences, the partnership enables faculty to easily access and contribute validated resources that advance student training and improve community health outcomes.

Effective healthcare training relies heavily on immersive simulations and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure providers can deliver top-tier patient care. However, the time and resources required to develop these highly realistic training scenarios often pose a significant hurdle for many educators and programs.

Enter the SUNY Share repository, a searchable library of proven, high-impact activities. SUNY Share reduces the need for individual institutions to build simulations from scratch, while also optimizing educational resources across the entire SUNY system and among other participating universities. It serves as a catalyst for curriculum enhancement, allowing institutions to leverage shared expertise.

“SUNY Share brought together experts in healthcare simulation, instructional design, and software development to create something larger than any one institution could build alone," said Ali Kemal Tanriverdi, manager of Binghamton's ITS Innovation Team and part of the repository's development team. "SUNY Share provides a sustainable framework for sharing knowledge, fostering innovation, and aiming to improve healthcare training throughout New York state and beyond." 

“Creating the SUNY Share Repository was a truly collaborative effort across many programs at Binghamton University,” added fellow development team member Patti Reuther, assistant dean of simulation and clinical practice at Decker College and director of Binghamton's interprofessional education program. “We are fortunate to have leadership that values innovation and cross-disciplinary collaboration.”

Tim Cortesi, chief technology officer and director of innovation and research computing support, completed the team that developed SUNY Share.

Building the open-source infrastructure

The ITS group was responsible for the full-scale development of the software powering the repository, engineered to meet the functional needs identified during the research phase. These included:

• A robust search functionality to help faculty quickly locate specific clinical scenarios
• The ability for users to upload and contribute their own simulations and IPE activities for peer review
• Features that allow users to download, share, and "tweak" existing activities to fit their specific curricular needs

A significant technical milestone in the project was the development of BingWAYF, a single-sign-on web interface. To ensure the repository could serve as a truly collaborative hub, ITS built BingWAYF so users from all SUNY campuses could log in using their existing university credentials. The system was also designed for global scalability; any university in the InCommon federation can authenticate seamlessly, enabling a secure, broad exchange of educational resources.

A hub for peer-reviewed excellence

By providing a centralized space where anyone can contribute and access validated high-impact simulations, ranging from provider communication to pediatric post-operative sepsis, the project team created a sustainable tool that can improve patient outcomes. 

“SUNY Share demonstrates the power of collaboration between technology and healthcare education,” Tanriverdi said. "By building an open, scalable platform that allows institutions to share and adapt peer-reviewed simulation experiences, we are helping educators spend less time recreating resources and more time preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals.”

The SUNY Share Repository was adopted for inclusion in the SUNY Healthcare Simulation Resource Library, which also includes the SUNY SimAcademy: Professional Development for Healthcare Simulation.

“As SUNY works to address New York state’s growing healthcare workforce needs, the adoption of the SUNY Share Repository into the SUNY Healthcare Simulation Resource Library reflects its commitment to educational excellence across campuses,” Reuther said. "The repository makes it easier for educators to access, share, and adapt peer-reviewed healthcare simulation and interprofessional activities into their curricula.”

Reuther and Tanriverdi presented the project at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare, a scientific conference that explores the latest innovations and best practices in healthcare simulation.

Looking ahead, the team is preparing for Phase II, which will focus on enhancing accessibility and integrating improvements to ensure the repository remains a leading resource for the healthcare community.

Funding for SUNY Share was provided by a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant.