Announcing a New Arrival at UA
Contact: Susan Guthrie (602) 631-6555
or
Jo Marie Gellerman, (520) 626-7219
May 4,
2006
EVENT:
WHEN: Friday, May 5, 10 a.m.-2
p.m.
WHERE: The University of
MECIAL WRITERS/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
NOTE: Reporters are welcome to cover this event, which will include a
demonstration of medical students training on the infant simulator. Interviews
with Allan J. Hamilton, MD, ASTEC executive director, Leslie Barton, MD,
Pediatric Residency Program director and Dale Woolridge, MD, PhD, UA Combined
Emergency Medicine/Pediatric Residency Program director, will be available
between 10:30 and 11:45 a.m.
A baby is a precious gift for parents and should that
child need medical attention, only the most experienced professionals will
do. Medical students, residents, practicing physicians, nurses and other
emergency healthcare providers at The University of Arizona College of Medicine
now have the opportunity to gain valuable experience and practice in treating
pediatric cases with the addition of a new highly realistic infant
simulator.
The Arizona
Simulation Technology and Education Center (ASTEC) recently added the
baby mannequin to complement the adult simulator already housed in the Medical
Simulation Training Lab. ASTEC’s virtual “baby” is the first in
At first sight, the simulator looks and sounds like a
real baby. It breathes, cries, bleeds and blinks, and has a pulse and a
heartbeat. Underneath its smooth skin are plastic circuits and wires connecting
to a laptop computer. Programmed to react to medical treatment and drugs,
and even throw a wailing fit, wet a diaper, and drool, the new virtual “baby”
provides a wide variety of medical training scenarios that challenge healthcare
professionals to diagnose and treat serious illnesses and keep it “alive.”
“Because of the physiological differences between an
infant and an adult, it is especially important to have as much experience as
possible in treating an infant during an emergency,” said Dale Woolridge, MD, PhD, UA assistant
professor of emergency medicine and director of the combined Emergency
Medicine/Pediatric Residency Program. “Inserting IVs, chest tubes, medication
dosages, are all different for an infant, and practice helps us perfect the
treatment.”
“Working with children is a very rewarding
experience,” said Leslie Barton,
MD, UA professor of pediatrics and director of the Pediatric
Residency Program. “But infants are very intricate. This is a tool that will give medical
students and staff hands-on experience and realistic training in pediatric care
and emergencies."
Simulation
training is meant to supplement, not replace, traditional medical training, said
Allan J. Hamilton, MD, UA professor of surgery
and ASTEC executive director. Studies have shown that life-like simulation tools can
improve patient outcomes by providing the ideal setting for physicians, nurses
and medical teams to practice and perfect their medical skills in a risk-free
environment.
“One of our mottos here is ‘Putting the practice back
into medical practice,’” said Dr. Hamilton. “The baby simulator is another way
that we can provide our medical community with a safe opportunity for
training.”
“We are thrilled with not only the number of people who
have come through ASTEC, but also with what we are providing and the feedback we
have received,” Dr. Hamilton said. “There really is no clinical problem
that can’t be simulated.”
In addition to the baby and adult simulators, ASTEC
features a state-of-the-art simulated operating room, virtual reality surgical
trainers and telecommunication capabilities to broadcast lectures and
demonstrations to other medical schools and hospitals.
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Susan
Guthrie
Associate Director of Public
Affairs
The
4001 N. Third Suite,
sguthrie@email.arizona.edu
Follow this link to learn more about the
expansion of the UA College of Medicine in
Phoenix.