Campus invited to July 22 Simulation Day

Medical students, Chantal Afuh and Joe Margheim, work with a human patient simulator in the clinical skills laboratory of the Sorrell Center. This and other simulators will be on display on July 22 during Simulation Day at the Sorrell Center.

The new Sorrell Center will be the backdrop for the July 22 Simulation Day, which is expected to draw more than 150 people. The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., will take place in classrooms, interaction rooms and in the Alumni Commons on the north side of the building.

Though aimed at educators and health care providers who want to build or are considering starting a simulation center, anyone is welcome to attend.

Patti Carstens, director of the clinical skills laboratory, is the organizer of the event and said it will give UNMC faculty members and others in the community a chance to see what’s available in patient and surgical simulators. Five national companies will be on hand to demonstrate medical simulation devices.

“The concept is to show what’s available today in clinical skills simulation before we make decisions to buy more,” said Carsens, whose goal is for UNMC to become a leader in the use of simulators in clinical training.

This year, hundreds of patient scenarios will be played over and over for educational purposes with human patient simulators in the clinical skills laboratory. The most sophisticated simulators are high-tech, life-size mannequins that have pulses, heart, lung and bowel sounds and can breathe, speak, bleed and urinate. With computer programming, the simulators can exhibit symptoms of disease conditions and can react to treatment.

“The concept is to show what’s available today in clinical skills simulation before we make decisions to buy more.” Patti Carstens

Representatives from various companies will demonstrate eight to 10 human patient simulators (high-tech mannequins), including representatives from Gaumard Scientific, METI and Laerdal. Also in attendance will be Haptica/ProMIS and Simbionix, which make virtual reality surgical simulators and laparoscopic robotic trainers. The simulators are used to train surgeon candidates and residents.

Also available will be information about the Healthcare and Emergency Responder Organization Education through Simulation (HEROES) project. Used for drills and exercises, it’s housed in a 16 feet by 8 feet mobile trailer and contains training equipment, including a patient simulator used to teach symptoms of smallpox, avian flu and anthrax exposure.

Representatives from the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology (CAST), a University of Nebraska partnership, also will demonstrate surgical simulation. The center works to advance surgical technologies related to computer-assisted surgery, computer enhanced surgery, image-guided surgery, minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery.

Composed of faculty members from UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, CAST personnel already have designed, and tested in animals, several wheeled mini-robots that can be surgically placed into the abdomen and controlled miles away. The mini-robot will be demonstrated during the day.

Carl Nelson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Mechanical Engineering and UNMC Department of Surgery, will demonstrate a robot that can be used to guide surgical tools or endoscopic cameras during minimally invasive surgery.

Bhavin Shah, M.D., research fellow for CAST Director Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., will demonstrate a laparoscopic trainer used to help physicians practice laparoscopic techniques.

“I think it’s very important that we have a Simulation Day because I think as a premier educational institution in Nebraska we need to be embracing new and innovative educational methods and ideas,” Dr. Oleynikov said. “We are going to be in the forefront of doing excellent teaching with the help of simulation.”