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| David McGarvey, DO, Chief Internal Medicine Resident at Millcreek Community Hospital demonstrates a lumbar puncture on Traumaman while Internal Medicine Residency Director Eric Milie, DO, assists at the Gannon Patient Simulation Center. |
Gannon University and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) are working collaboratively to enhance the medical training available to local and regional healthcare providers.
A $50,000 gift from LECOM to Gannon has allowed the University to add the TraumaMan and MicroMaxx Ultrasound systems to its Patient Simulation Center.
TraumaMan is a simulated human torso form designed to allow students to practice a number of advanced medical procedures, including central line insertion and chest tube placement. TraumaMan has four surgical “zones” and is designed as a better and more practical alternative to students training with cadavers or other models.
The MicroMaxx Ultrasound System provides quality imaging for ease and accuracy for central line placement.
“Gannon University is very grateful to LECOM for its generosity and support of the Patient Simulation Center,” said Dr. Carolynn Masters, Dean of Gannon’s Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences. “The gift will be instrumental in helping us advance the Simulation Center’s strategic goal of educational outreach and offering a higher level of medical education to a wider audience.”
Recently, a class of Internal Medicine residents from Millcreek Community Hospital spent a day at the Simulation Center, perfecting their skills with the help of TraumaMan. Prior to their visit, Gannon faculty in the health professions and sciences worked collaboratively with faculty from LECOM to structure a training program for the residents and LECOM Primary Care Scholars Pathway Students, one of two, three-year doctor of osteopathic medicine degree programs offered at LECOM.
LECOM committed to supporting the Simulation Center after seeing the advantages of training physicians who will be using the skills they learn in this program to teach LECOM medical students.
“Simulation Center training is on the cutting edge of medical education,” said Silvia M. Ferretti, DO, Provost, Senior Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs at LECOM. “Residents find the hands-on training essential for practicing procedures that can only be learned by repetition. Learning with these manikins develops muscle memory so that when the physician has a real patient the procedure takes place naturally and safely.”
The program will eventually involve inter-professional training of LECOM medical students working with Gannon nursing and physician assistant students enacting patient simulations in the way they would interact as a health care team in a hospital or clinic.
Dr. Masters is hopeful of continuing the practice of the Simulation Center offering training to resident physicians from Millcreek Community and from other healthcare providers. “Gannon University believes strongly in being an educational partner, which includes a world-class Simulation Center that is an asset to the community and to our students,” she said. “Ultimately, we hope the Center makes a positive impact on the quality of patient care.”
In addition to central line insertion and chest tube placement/insertion, other surgical procedures and skills that can be practiced with TraumaMan include diagnostic peritoneal lavage, pericardiocentesis, cricothyroidotomy, percutaneous tracheostomy, needle decompression, intravenous cutdown and bowel anastomosis. TraumaMan is a product of Simulab Corp., located in Seattle.
More about Gannon University’s Patient Simulation Center
The Patient Simulation Center housed within Gannon’s Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences is the largest and most comprehensive patient simulation center in the region. The Simulation Center uses a multidisciplinary approach designed to bring together students from numerous academic disciplines, such as nursing, respiratory care, radiologic science, physician assistant and occupational therapy, to take part in collaborative, hands-on learning.
The 5,800-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility has 14 medium- and high-fidelity patient simulators as well as intravenous training stations, classroom seating for up to 40 students, simulated emergency rooms and labor/delivery/recovery rooms.
Gannon University is a Catholic, Diocesan university offering nearly 100 academic programs, including doctoral programs in physical therapy and organizational learning and leadership. Gannon enrolls more than 4,000 academically talented and diverse students. Learn more at https://www.gannon.edu