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MEDICAL SCHOOL MEDICAL SCHOOL
TRAINING TRAINING

Medical Simulation:

The Next Frontier of Medical Education

By Fatima Ali and Patryk Tomaszkiewicz

t the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic that can connect to a machine that administers anesthesia. On the
Medicine (UIWSOM), it’s not uncommon to see first-year other side of the room is a one-way mirror where professors can con-
Astudents deliver babies by themselves and then perform the trol the mannequin to replicate real-life scenarios, and monitor the
newborn’s APGAR assessments. Occasionally, students also treat students via audio and video and provide suggestions for improvement
patients suffering from acute heart attacks. These lifesaving measures without getting in the way.
are routinely performed in the safety of the medical school’s SIM Lab, Not too long ago, medical schools relied on actual patients with UIWSOM’s simulation
a specialized space dedicated for students to learn clinical skills before real presentations to volunteer at schools for students to learn from lab features high-fidelity
they must use them in the real world them via incessant poking and prodding. “Mannequins don’t com- pediatric mannequins
UIWSOM is an osteopathic medical school located in the south- plain,” remarked Dr. Robert Allen, the Medical Director of CIELO capable of providing
side of San Antonio where the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace (Center for Interprofessional Experiential Learning & Observation) at medical students with an
Medicine formerly stood. The campus boasts four state-of-the-art UIWSOM. The SIM Lab boasts a variety of mannequins with differ- opportunity to practice their
facilities in the Brooks City Base, including its high-fidelity SIM Lab. ent purposes. Along with the mannequin that can simulate a live birth, pediatrics.
The SIM Lab is an instructional facility aimed at giving medical stu- there are mannequins you can perform surgery on, listen for various
dents realistic training opportunities for their future careers, regard- heart and lung diseases, use ultrasound to view various pathologies in
less of what specialty they go into. Utilization of the SIM lab takes 3D, insert IVs and central lines, as well as authentic trainers on which
place during all phases of the curriculum and is integrated as a part of students can learn how to perform more sensitive but imperative
learning and partaking in a low-stakes environment where students can exams, like breast and rectal exams, physical exams and pap smears.
learn from their mistakes and strive to become great physicians. Once students enter their clinical years, the more practice they have
The lab consists of four rooms, two of which perfectly emulate full before having to perform clinical skills on real patients, the better. Ali-
surgical suites, complete with everything you would see in an operating cia Cortez, the Clinical Outreach and Standardized Patient Manager
room in any hospital. When you walk into the operating room, you’ll of CIELO, emphasized, “Once student doctors go out into clinics and
see your patient — a mannequin that has a heartbeat, lungs and can hospitals, they become part of the rapid response teams. Students need The simulation lab also
even talk — in an adjustable electronic surgical bed. Behind the bed to know these skills now so they become more used to it, and are ready contains 12 functional
is a fully functioning headwall with medical gas and electrical outlets to go when the time comes.” When the mannequin actively complains clinic rooms where
medical students practice
important clinical skills
such as taking a history,
performing a physical
exam, and performing
osteopathic manipulative
medicine (OMM) as well as
osteopathic manipulative
treatment (OMT).
of crushing chest pain and you can hear their shortness of breath, there’s birthing canal so that they can better understand the mechanics of the
much less pretending and much more focused assessment — it becomes birthing process. CIELO also is working on expanding the SIM Lab
so much more real. The experience breeds familiarity and allows stu- to its own building so that all of UIW’s health professional schools
dents to handle the situation in a more professional and efficient manner. can use them and collaborate to simulate interdisciplinary teams that
Graduates of UIWSOM find the simulations relevant and applicable doctors rely on during their clinical practice. As the years pass, it will
to their experiences working as doctors in the field, and feel as if the be exciting to see what vital skills medical students graduate with. After
simulated encounters strengthened their confidence for when the time all, the mannequin is the limit.
came. If anything, Mark Zuniga, the Simulations Operations Specialist,
claims that “learners don’t get enough.” With so many possible outcomes Fatima Ali is a San Antonio resident and is currently a second-year
doctors come across, there is no such thing as too much practice.
UIWSOM’s state-of-the-art medical student at UIWSOM.
simulation lab, featuring As medical technology advances, so will the SIM Lab. As artificial
interactive mannequins intelligence becomes more prevalent in the field, the CIELO team
capable of simulating hopes to incorporate the technology into the simulations. Right now, Patryk Tomaszkiewicz is from Houston, Texas. He is a second-year
critical patients and sights are on incorporating virtual reality so that student doctors can medical student at UIWSOM interested in pursuing Radiology or
allowing medical students Internal Medicine.
to simulate patient care. see through the birthing mannequin as the baby proceeds through the

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