Residents from the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville are the national champions of medical simulation.
Three chief emergency medicine residents from UF competed in a first of its kind competition at the 2008 scientific assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians in Chicago.
Teams from UF, Harvard, Mt. Sinai, LSU, Northwestern and the University of Illinois at Chicago were each given mock medical scenarios and ten minutes to treat the patient who was actually a high fidelity mannequin.
In the first round, teams were paired off and each of the three groups was given a different medical scenario. The UF team went up against the University of Illinois in the first round as one hundred observers watched each team take a turn at treatment and diagnosis. At the completion of the round the audience got to vote for the team they felt handled the case best.
UF, LSU and Mt. Sinai advanced to the final round and were each given the same scenario. Once again the audience got to vote and in the end the UF team came out on top in the inaugural year of the competition.
The team brought home a plaque and $1,500 for the UF Emergency Medicine Residency program.
The home team was well trained for the competition in Chicago. The UF Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research at Shands Jacksonville is the largest non-military simulation lab in the United States.
Simulation allows the gap to be bridged between classroom and “real-life” experience, challenging residents to make critical decisions and then witness the results of those decisions in a controlled, observed and patient-safe environment with faculty and peer feedback.
The mannequins used in the sim lab are complex, life-like robots which, under computer control, mimic almost every known human physical condition. They have skin that can be pierced, cut and sutured, as well as bones and organs that can be observed, felt and removed.