The Simulation Center gives PCOM Georgia learners the opportunity to practice clinical skills, develop crucial communication abilities, and demonstrate that they have achieved clinical competence.
Through the use of standardized patients and human patient simulators, the Center provides graduate and medical students with the opportunity to practice techniques and diagnosis in a supportive environment prior to treating real patients. The Center also features birthing and neonatal simulators designed to provide a complete birthing experience before, during and after delivery.
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOURIn the PCOM Georgia Simulation Center exam room, learners explore doctor-standardized patient encounters. This allows student-doctors the opportunity to practice their clinical and humanistic skills.
Standardized patients are trained to document the skills of learners and to provide them with honest and constructive feedback based on clinical performance. The patients portray a medical scenario the same way for each student who examines them. During an encounter, the student takes a patient’s history, performs an appropriate physical examination and then provides the patient with a corresponding assessment and plan.
The standardized patient area has 10 exam rooms. Each room is designed to be an accurate representation of what the learners will see in the “real world.” Exam rooms are also equipped with adjustable osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) tables.
Faculty can watch the patient encounters live from either the review room or the proctor stations. Each exam room is equipped with two cameras and microphones. The audio and video can be recorded to provide faculty with the opportunity to review a learner's performance at a later date.
The Simulation Center primarily uses four full-body high-fidelity patient simulators for most cases, in addition to two full-body obstetrical high-fidelity patient simulators, one child high-fidelity patient simulator and one newborn high-fidelity patient simulator.
These high-fidelity patient simulators are a highly advanced medical simulation tool used for healthcare training and education. It closely resembles a human patient in anatomy and physiology, allowing healthcare professionals to practice a wide range of clinical skills and scenarios. This mannequin offers realistic physiological responses, scenario-based training, data collection for feedback, and is also used to develop skills like CPR, intubation and medication administration. It is also valuable for team training exercises, enhancing coordination and communication among healthcare teams in simulated medical emergencies.
The PCOM Georgia Simulation Center is equipped with four versatile simulation rooms to mimic any healthcare setting, such as a maternity room where students can practice multiple procedures, featuring a wireless birthing simulator with five fetal heart sound locations, a highly articulated baby with various joint movements, and an audible cry upon delivery. The patient simulator offers audible lung sounds, visible chest rise and fall, and controllable pulses in eight locations connected to an electrocardiogram monitor. Additionally, there is a neonate simulator with programmable mouth and eyes, limb movement, ventilator support, heart and lung sounds, palpable pulses and seizure simulation. The Simulation Center can also mimic an emergency room or intensive care unit for various scenarios and has monitoring equipment, communication systems and fully-stocked crash carts.
Each room in the Simulation Center is equipped with multiple cameras and microphones. The control room allows faculty and staff to manage, monitor, record and evaluate each simulation and exam. Debriefing rooms enable faculty and learners to discuss simulation cases after scenarios are completed.
The skills lab is used to train learners to perform various clinical procedures. Students may work individually or as part of a team to practice with different task trainers.
Task trainers include intubation airway trainers, lumbar puncture trainers, central line trainers, femoral line trainers, IV arm trainers, atrial line trainers, breast simulator trainers, adult CPR trainers, pediatric CPR trainers, infant CPR trainers, female pelvic trainers, male pelvic trainers, suture pad trainers and surgical knot tying practice.
The simulated operating room is fully equipped with a working operating table, oxygen, suction, lights and a trauma simulator which provides learners with the opportunity to perform surgical-type procedures while also learning about the operating room environment. Second-year students practice scrub procedures at the scrub sink prior to their operating room rotations.
Within the operating room is the LAP Mentor, which is a virtual laparoscopic surgical simulator which provides a complete training experience to learners of all levels and across all disciplines including gynecology, urology and general surgery.
The FLS Laparoscopic Trainer System is a device for surgical residents and practicing surgeons that facilitates the development of psychomotor skills and dexterity required during the performance of basic laparoscopic surgery.
The Simulation Center, which has a total of three control areas strategically located within it, provides a secluded area where faculty can monitor and evaluate performances during simulated exercises as well as staff controlling the various simulators, audio/video systems and lab equipment. Each room in the Simulation Center is equipped with multiple cameras and microphones, allowing faculty and staff to manage, monitor, record and evaluate each simulation and exam room performance.
The mobile simulation lab is a teaching tool for trauma and pre-hospital care. The lab resembles an ambulance and houses modern emergency equipment including vital monitors, stretchers, splints, suctioning equipment, intubation equipment, simulated medications and much more. In addition, equipment and patient mannequins found in the Simulation Center can be moved into the mobile lab.
Emergency simulations are conducted inside and around the vehicle. Doctoral and medical simulation students can practice a variety of scenarios including cardiac arrest, childbirth, bone fractures, burns, gunshot wounds, allergic reactions, overdoses and more.
The lab is used to teach both PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia learners when it makes trips between the two locations. It is also used during community education events such as the Gwinnett Science Fair or training events held in conjunction with neighboring institutions and EMS stations.
Brian G. Mann, EdD, PA-C
Chief of Simulation
brianma1@pcom.edu
Danny K. Opperman, MBA, NRP, CHSE, CHSOS
Director of Clinical Simulation Education
dannyop@pcom.edu
JoAnn Willette
Manager of Clinical Simulation
joannwi@pcom.edu
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