Illinois Medicine

scholarship and take quantitative methods [and] qualita- tive methods electives. Others want to be more skilled in simulation for instruction and assessment," Harris says. After completing their coursework, which usu- M PATIENT SIMULATION AT THE GRAHAM PERFORMANCE CENTER PREPARES CLINICIANS FOR PRACTICE EDICAL EDUCATION TAKES MANY FORMS, from classroom lectures to discussion groups, and from anatomy lab dissection during the first year of medical school to hands-on patient care during residency. The UIC Health Science Simulation Consortium offers another form of medical education, providing a variety of patient simulations that help prepare clinicians for situations they'll encounter in real-world practice. Recently accredited as a Level I Accredited Educational Institute by the American College of Surgeons, the consortium encompasses three simulation labs: the Dr. Allan L. and Mary L. Graham Clinical Performance Center in the department of medical education, the perinatal simulation laboratory in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, and the surgical laboratories in the department of surgery. The labs train medical students, residents and practicing clinicians in how to perform techniques, respond to patient symptoms and reactions, and handle critical situations when they arise. The simulators in the labs include remote-controlled mannequins that can simu- late medical symptoms and respond to treatments; models of parts of the human anatomy; standardized patients—that is, actors playing the role of patients; computerized virtual real- ity simulations; and minimally invasive and robotic surgery simulators. "It lets them practice techniques in a way that's safe for them and safe for the patient. They can make all their mistakes in a simulated environment before they go into real practice," observed by faculty members who can tell when something has gone awry, says Rachel Yudkowsky, MD, MHPE, associate professor in the department of medical education and director of the Graham center. Along with preparing clinicians for practice, the Graham center is training medical edu- cators on the use of simulation itself. The center conducts a regular workshop on debriefing trainees after they've worked with simulators, which is attended by faculty at the College of Medicine and other area medical schools. The center also offers an elective course for students in the master of health professions education program on teaching and testing with standardized patients. The course will be offered as a certificate program starting this fall. In addition, the center annually hosts international delegations of faculty from Asia and the Middle East on how to use the actors who play standardized patients; and provides consultation to schools from the Chicago suburbs to Japan. "Simulation is an up-and-coming methodology, but a lot of different schools and hos- pital programs are jumping into it without necessarily having the expertise and know-how to implement it effectively," Yudkowsky says. "Our goal is to make sure that when educators do simulation, they do it in a way that's effective, efficient and has the greatest benefit for learn- ers." — Kevin McKeough ally takes two years, students complete a thesis, which they're encouraged to base on an issue affecting their own institution. Rogers wrote his thesis on conflicts in learning groups, which led him to research conflicts in the oper- ating room and how to teach surgeons to handle those situations better, a line of inquiry he's pursued for the past decade. Other students currently are conducting thesis research on topics such as how educators can respond when a surgical resident freezes up during an operation, and how to assess the multiple competencies required to perform clinical procedures. "In addition to being leaders, we want them to be scholars. We expect that they'll go on and [do] research and publish," says Bordage, who teaches the program's required course on scholarship and chairs many students' thesis committees. "Every month, there are articles by our students and graduates in the leading journals in the field, a clear sign that we've succeeded." Terry Wolpaw, MD, MHPE '08, associate dean for curricular affairs at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, credits the program with helping guide her through a curriculum revision at the school. "It gave me a knowledge base and a conceptual framework for what I was doing that I would not have otherwise," she says. "The whole way of carrying through a large curriculum change was something I was better able to do because of all my coursework, not only in curricu- lum design but also leadership." Bordage notes that providing medical education leaders with this sort of foundation for decision-making is one of the key ways the MHPE program makes an impact. "It gives institutions people who can bring in new ideas that are well grounded," he says. "When they go back to their institutions, our graduates know the scholarly lit- erature. They know what's already been done. They're not going to start doing things that have been shown not to work." Harris observes that equipping MHPE students to improve the quality of education at their institutions leads, in turn, to better educated and trained medical students and residents. "Our aim is to prepare excellent physicians," she says, "and our ultimate aim is to improve health care in the community." 30 | FALL 2012

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