The Clinical Skills Center incorporates SimMan, a high fidelity human patient simulator to provide unique opportunities to advanced medical students to develop and enhance, diagnostic and clinical skills through frequent participation in controlled clinical scenarios. Actual case reports and clinical situations are simulated in order to emphasize critical elements of health care.

The goals of the Clinical Skills Center Human Simulation Program are:

a) Facilitate interactive teaching through innovative educational tools,

b) Improve clinical knowledge through practice,

c) Build confidence and enhance individual and team performance,

d) Provide emergency management training in life support (BLS and ACLS),

e) Provide the opportunity to experience clinical scenarios before being confronted by similar situations in daily practice

Medical Student Education:

Medical students in their Third and Fourth year are introduced to SimMan, a Human patient simulator. Under faculty supervision students will play the role of an examining physician. The principles physical examination, diagnosis and treatment are introduced, and students are given the opportunity to directly apply these principles within the framework of "real" scenarios without the fear of adverse consequences.

The simulation facility consists of a human patient simulator in a mock ICU/exam room with an adjacent control room and debriefing area. Training sessions can be observed on digital, large screen monitors and can be recorded for debriefing and evaluation afterward. The patient simulator is controlled by a remote computer which incorporates full physiologic system responses, and allows real-time interaction between students and simulator staff during all phases of the simulation scenario.

The SimMan Patient Simulation lab is in room 204, adjacent to the Vis & Sim Lab. Access can also be gained by contacting Diane Ferguson (567-3147). Further information about the lab can be obtained by contacting Leonid Bunegin (567-4486) of Anesthesiology.