For doctors, nurses and other clinicians, preparation is paramount.
“Simulation-based learning is the best way to ensure that caregivers are well-versed and comfortable carrying out their work,” said Jim Cooke, M.D., executive director of the Clinical Simulation Center (CSC) at Michigan Medicine. “Such training leads to improved health outcomes and safety for our patients and colleagues.”
That mantra is the foundation for the brand-new Clinical Simulation Center, a 7,500-square-foot facility that opened earlier this year in Med Sci Building II. The space is filled with state-of-the-art technology designed to give physicians, learners, nurses and clinicians a place to practice and perfect their craft.
More capacity to improve skills
For more than a decade, clinical simulation has been a major component of the curriculum for students at Michigan Medicine.
A 1,500-square-foot facility opened near the Towsley Triangle in 2004, giving U-M one of the first medical simulation centers in the country. That space included a mock patient room, manikins and virtual reality surgical simulators on which to practice procedures.
But the school rapidly outgrew the space, paving the way for an expansion to 6,000 square feet in Towsley in 2008 followed by the new, additional Med Sci 2 facility, which was constructed between April 2017 and January 2018 (the old space is still active, as well).
“We’ve been searching for ways to give more members of our community a chance to get comfortable in the clinical environment before ever coming face-to-face with a patient,” Cooke said. “The new space more than doubles our overall capacity and is open to med students, residents, fellows and nurses — along with researchers, faculty and staff — so they can improve their skills and enhance the level of services provided across the organization.”
Read more about the CSC — and view a video and slideshow of photos — in Michigan Medicine Headlines.