Laura Simone

Staff Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine

Other Chair positions:

• Chair, Education Council, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children.
• Founding Chair, Medical Education Scholarship Special Interest Group: PERC-EMERSE (Emergency Medicine Education Scholarship Initiative), Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC).
• Fellowship Education Advisory Committee (FEAC) Chair, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.
• Area of Focused Competence (AFC) Internal Review Subcommittee Chair, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.

Project Investigator, SickKids Research Institute

Director of Education, Division of Emergency Medicine

Dr. Laura Simone is a paediatric emergency medicine physician and medical educator at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Simone's academic work focuses on competency-based education, simulation, curriculum design, and assessment across postgraduate and continuing medical education. She has developed and led innovative educational programs, governance structures, and assessment systems spanning residency and fellowship training, faculty development, and institution-wide fellowship education across the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Her contributions include competency-based curricula, simulation-based assessment frameworks, and initiatives that advance equity, wellness, and learning environment quality. Dr. Simone is recognized nationally and internationally for her work in simulation and competency-based education and is a frequent invited speaker at conferences and webinars. She also mentors residents, fellows, and early-career educators, and maintains an active clinical practice in the emergency department at SickKids.

Research

Dr. Laura Simone's research focuses on medical education in paediatric emergency medicine, spanning competency-based education, simulation-based training and assessment, and clinical practice patterns. Her education scholarship examines how curricula, assessment, and feedback build and sustain competence in high-acuity care, with current work on how trainee supervision practices shape patient safety and the learning environment. Her practice-pattern research studies variation in paediatric emergency care across hospitals and countries to help align practice with the best available evidence.

Education and experience

• 2025–2026: New & Evolving Academic Leaders (NEAL) Program, Advanced Certificate, Centre for Faculty Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2024–2025: CPD Foundations Certificate, Centre for Faculty Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2021: M.Sc., Health Science Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
• 2015–2016: Advanced Training Fellowship, Simulation, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2013–2015: Subspecialty Residency, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2010–2013: Residency, Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2007–2010: M.D., Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
• 2004–2007: B.Sc., Biomedical Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Achievements 

• 2026: Excellence in Program Development Award, Department of Paediatrics Continuing Education (CE), The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2024–2025: Runner-Up, Department of Paediatrics Subspecialty Education Award, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2025: Professional Association of Residents of Ontario (PARO) Residency Program Excellence Award for Paediatric Emergency Medicine (Nominated)
• 2025: Professional Association of Residents of Ontario (PARO) Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award (Nominated)
• 2025: Temerty Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education (Teaching Performance/Mentorship/Advocacy), University of Toronto (Nominated)
• 2016–2017: James Fallis Award for Best PEM Staff Lecturer, Division of Paediatric Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2015: Professional Development Grant, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, ON

1. Simone L, Zemek R, Roland D, Lyttle MD, Craig S, Dalziel SR, Gravel J, Finkelstein Y, Curtis S, Freedman SB, Plint AC, Schuh S; Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN). International practice patterns of IV magnesium in paediatric acute asthma. Emergency Medicine Journal. 2022. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2022-212642.
2. Takadera T, Thau E, McLean L, Simone L, Schonfeld D, Fayyaz J, Kvatinsky N, Litwin S, Harel-Sterling M. POCUS in pediatric arrest (Res-US pulse check): development and evaluation of a simulation-based curriculum. Resuscitation Plus. 2026. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2026.101380.
3. Harel-Sterling M, Singer-Harel D, Katz-Dana H, Simone L, Thau E, Olszynski P, Pirie J. Implementation and evaluation of a longitudinal simulation curriculum integrating resuscitative point-of-care ultrasound for pediatric emergency medicine residents. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2025.
4. Pirie J, Fayyaz J, Principi T, Kempinska A, Gharib M, Simone L, Glanfield C, Walsh CM. Impact and effectiveness of a mandatory competency-based simulation program for pediatric emergency medicine faculty. AEM Education and Training. 2023. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10856.
5. Pirie J, Fayyaz J, Gharib M, Simone L, Glanfield C, Kempinska A. Development and implementation of a novel, mandatory competency-based medical education simulation program for pediatric emergency medicine faculty. Advances in Simulation. 2021. doi: 10.1186/s41077-021-00170-4.

See Dr. Simone's PubMed page See Dr. Simone's Google Scholar page

Funding

• 2026: Optimizing the Learning Environment Through Examination of Trainee Supervision Practices, Principal Investigator, Escalation of Care Task Force Grant, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, $6,000 CAD
• 2025: Integrating EDIA Concepts into Simulation Events Using the pEDIAtric Sim Toolkit, Co-Investigator, Department of Paediatrics Education Development & Innovation Grant, $5,190 CAD
• 2025: POCUS in Paediatric Arrest (Res-US Pulse Check), Co-Investigator, Department of Paediatrics Education Development & Innovation Grant, $10,000 CAD
• 2024: Implementation of an Individualized Trainee Dashboard Using Informatics Data for Competency Acquisition, Co-Investigator, Department of Paediatrics CPA Grant, $7,000 CAD
• 2018: Debriefing on Demand – Exploring the Pause Button in Simulation, Principal Investigator, Department of Paediatrics Education Innovation & Development Grant, $5,000 CAD