New state-of-the-art OR sim lab set to open

Eileen and Wayne Ryan, Ph.D.

Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., the Joseph and Richard Still Endowed Professor of Surgery, put it this way:

“What we have to stress,” Dr. Oleynikov said, “is that surgery has become so incredibly complicated and so technologically dependent that it’s a little bit like trying to fly a 747.”

And thus, he said, UNMC just got a world-class flight simulator in the Dr. Wayne and Eileen Ryan Surgical Simulation Suite.

Patti Carstens, program manager in the Clinical Skills Center, looks at the new facility and is still overwhelmed by a high-tech, state-of-the-art simulation operating suite, where an underused former multi-bed nursing training area once stood.

Carstens, Paul Paulman, M.D., and the rest of the Sim Lab brain trust went to work on how to use the space. They made a wish list. And Eileen and Wayne Ryan, Ph.D., came by and made wishes come true with a $1 million gift.

Dr. Ryan is the former assistant dean for research in the College of Medicine, and the chairman, CEO and founder of Streck Labs. He’s a longtime benefactor and friend of the UNMC College of Medicine and this project touched on his three passions of education, research and clinical care.

“What we have to stress is that surgery has become so incredibly complicated and so technologically dependent that it’s a little bit like trying to fly a 747.” Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D.

The results have been spectacular. Cameras and audio-visual retrieval systems allow students and teachers to go back and review training sessions. There will be mannequins — some costing up to $250,000 — which will “log” every touch and allow for training in endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery.

With this facility, UNMC will become a regional training and testing site.
Multimedia equipment allows for “virtual reality” scenarios in the middle of surgery. Monitors will show anything and everything. Teachers can run the session or interact with students from a control room perched behind one-way glass.

“It is difficult for an inexperienced resident to walk through the door and take the lead without some practice,” said Michael Wadman, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine.

“Sometimes they don’t see the big picture and how it all interrelates until we videotape it and play it back and talk about it,” Carstens said.

Others in on the planning and use of the facility include Chandra Are, M.D., Dr. Paulman, Dr. Oleynikov, David W. Mercer, M.D., Jennifer Adams, M.D., Jay Moore, M.D., and Bradley Britigan, M.D.

The new facility, located on the first floor of the Sorrell Center, “simulates what happens in a modern operating room,” Dr. Oleynikov said.