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Duke University School of Medicine is teaming up with Virtual Heroes, a software simulation company out of Raleigh, North Carolina, to utilize the firms HumanSim package as a tool for healthcare team communication training; medical device and pharma product education; patient education; medical recertification; clinical trial education; CME courses; and healthcare quality assurance training. Potential applications of HumanSim from the product page: Initial patient assessment (quality) Measurement of clinical competence Cognitive and clinical performance under stress Immediate feedback using digital afteraction-review (AAR) system Statistics tracking system linked through AAR to Learning Management System (LMS) Team Training and Cross Training (e.g. pediatric and adult care staff) Practice of new or complicated skills or technologies without endangering patient health or safety Dynamic Virtual Human Technology using embedded physiologicpharmacologic model provides real time, patient state transitions based on user inputs. Learning modules include defined learning objectives and instructor notes for self paced individual instruction or team training. Delivery platform includes notebook PC and game consoles. Content is web downloadable http://www.medgadget.com/2010/06/virtual_reality_medical_simulator_being_adopted_by_duke_medical _school.html

VR programs now train medical students in anatomy and surgery, and can even help psychiatrists enter the world of the mentally ill.

virtual reality can be a special help in educating and training people who cannot read, say executives at the Naledi 3D Factory, a South African company that develops VR education and training programs for groups including UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Naledi's programs have covered such subjects as cleanliness and good health habits, prevention of HIV infection and AIDS, and techniques for generating electric power. "A picture paints a thousand words," says the company's Web site. "An interactive 3D model paints millions!" 15 Read more: http://www.scienceclarified.com/scitech/Virtual-Reality/The-Virtual-ClassroomVirtual-Reality-in-Training-and-Education.html#b#ixzz2KfywnsBy

Northwestern University has completed construction of a state-of the-art medical simulation center under the direction of Dr. John Vozenilek (GME 2000). This laboratory is a simulation in itself, representing five acute care rooms, in a design that emulates the look andfeel of an emergency department or intensive care unit. The center is under complete surveillance by an audio-visual system designed to track and record teams of professionals working together to prioritize patient care. The center and these simulations provide a standardized and validated curricula for medical students, residents, and for continuing education with a focus on inter-professional education. This training is focused on dramatically reducing deviations in healthcare quality and improving patient safety. It is located within easy geographic reach for the mid-western United States, and beyond. The new simulation center includes a comprehensive array of innovative programming for healthcare professionals including:

Simulations of the hospital environment to enhance safety practices and improve patient outcomes Dissemination of best practices for simulations-based professional healthcare education Simulations of adult and pediatric health services and surgeries, and other specialty areas Simulations of inpatient womens health services in obstetrics and gynecologic surgery, high risk neonatal care and other high-risk specialty areas

Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Medical Services training Maintenance of technical competence for a regional healthcare workforce to serve in times of emergency/disaster relief

Educational strategies to ameliorate healthcare professional performance gaps which may result in healthcare disparities

Testing of new equipment or workflows before they are trialed in the real clinical environment.

http://www.standardcollege.edu/school-human-simulation

Human Simulation
The job function of nurses has been expanding far beyond tasks involving traditional bedside care. Layers of new responsibilities involve managing increasingly complex patient care requirements, caring for an aging population, learning and using medical technologies, adhering to patient privacy and safety rules, and making critical decisions on the spot. These new layers require a higher level of knowledge and training.

As nurses roles expand and patients r ely more and more on nursing care, they become a more critical part of an integrated health care team. But while demand for such versatile nurses is high, their supply is critically low. That means the nursing education they receive becomes all the more crucial.

In the area of nurse education, technology is helping improve training effectiveness and empower nurses to deliver better carethrough the use of high-fidelity simulation labs, like those found at Standard Healthcare Services Inc., College of Nursing. When used in conjunction with clinicals and classroom instruction, the labs can help produce safer, more efficient, more confident nurses. This Simulation Lab enables our students to gain a tremendous amount of experience by doing procedures and then observing their impact without compromising the health and safety of human patients.

The simulation suite consists of 2 labs, each with a focus on a specific set of nursing skills: medical/surgical, health assessment, maternal/child and critical care. The labs are peer taught and overseen by trained nurses.

The lab allow students to acquire the full range of skills needed for nursing, ranging from drawing blood and hanging an IV bag to delivering babies and preparing toddlers for surgery. Mannequins include Noelle, a woman who gives birth, and newborn Hal, who breathes, cries and is programmed to respond physiologically to students interventions.