December 2005 the UPMC Respiratory Care Department presented the results of their abstract: Competency Based Skills Assessment for Respiratory Therapists. Comparing traditional methods of training and assessment to simulation based training and assessment at the 51st AARC Annual Conference in San Antonio. They also presented a pre-conference symposium entitled ¿ Simulation Technology in Respiratory Care¿. Symposium sponsors included WISER, Kimberly Clark, Laerdal and SimMedical. The presentation featured a hands-on simulation workshop, which included Airway Management and the Mini-BAL procedure.