Disaster simulation can be a powerful experience for medical students or faculty, in interdisciplinary or multiprofessional teams. This paper illustrates the potential of such simulations for developing, and assessing, the integration of professional competencies. Operation Kauai is a disaster relief simulation which has been used successfully in workshops for multiprofessional faculty development at the University of Hawaii and elsewhere. Its sequence of scenarios uses a variety of stimuli designed to promote or assess teamwork skills as well as individuals performance. This kind of simulation may appeal to medical educators wanting a broader approach to problem-based learning or an interdisciplinary framework for the assessment of clinical competence.