Welcome from the Director of Anesthesia Simulation:

Welcome to the Stony Brook Clinical Skills Center. Your host is Chris Gallagher.

I ran the Simulation Center at the University of Miami for 4 years, and have been directing Anesthesia Simulation in Stony Brook for three years. I wrote a book about simulation and served on the ASA committee on Simulation in Education, so it may be that "I know of what I speak".

Simulation is as much fun for me as it is for the residents and med students who run through the gauntlet of my simulation scenarios.
Our motto, however irreverent, is "Kill them here so you don't kill them there,", that is, I can put you through your paces here in a safe setting and scare the bejeebers out of you, so when it happens in real life, you've "already seen it."

When Sullenberger put that plane into the Hudson and saved all those people, that was not the first time he'd ditched in the water, because he had done simulated water landings earlier. He used simulation to save lives.

So can you.

Welcome to simulation, Stony Brook style.

WHAT IS SIMULATION?

So you're heading into the Simulator, but you're wondering what it's all about, here goes.

We have a mannequin which can create any vital sign you want, including rhythm disturbances, low sat, anything.

The mannequin has pulses, breath sounds, and a microphone so we can always suprise you.
You can intubate this mannequin, trach it, place a chest tube, or decompress a pneumothorax.
And yes, you can kill this mannequin, but don't worry, it comes back to life with a stroke of a computer key.

BUT, it's not just the mannequin. We also create the atmosphere of a crisis, complete with equipment malfunctions, out of control surgeons, fainting medical students, and litigious parents, all vying for your attention and distracting you at critical times! In short, we re-create all the messy, complicated, confusing aspects of real life crises, all in the comfort of our own simulation center.

After the scenario, the learning really begins, as we "debrief", or go over all the events that took place during the simulated crisis. We ask "what did you do?" "when did you recognize the ischemia?" "how did you respond to the lost airway?" We probe your thinking and decision making, giving you that rarest of luxuries, a "chance to do it over again". In short, simulation gives you an exciting, involved way to burn a lesson into your brain cells that you will never forget.

Simulation - there is no substitute.

Hop on board.