Simulations as Warm Ups

Content:

During this week we had the opportunity of having Mithra present to us the state of the medical simulation as well as training through simulations. The concept of using everyday gaming systems to provide cheaper alternatives is great and will likely result in lower costs. As well, with warm ups available for nearly every other field, this provides the medical field with its own warmup. I feel that in doing so it will put the patients at ease and patients will be more trustful of the person holding a knife.

One question with regards to using gaming consoles for training I have to ask is, is the PC considered part of this mix? There and lots and lots of games out there for the PC both games installed locally on the PC and games on the internet (Flash). With the correct game, any skill be be developed.

On a side note, I recently saw this Cisco commercial about some of their products but they are referring to it as the human network. This linked clip shows how they envision TelePresence in Medicine. What does everyone think?

http://videolounge.cisco.com/video/the-doctor-is-in/


Watch this first (~43 mins) if you don't want your watching experience to be spoiled; otherwise, just skip to the paragraph below.
http://abc.go.com/watch/greys-anatomy/93515/239731/give-peace-a-chance



Back to simulations, Grey's Anatomy had an episode with an inoperable cancer along the spinal cord. Dr. Shepard goes ahead with the surgery anyways since the patient insists that he does it. He spends I think 8 hours initially just staring at the spinal column of the patient because he didn't know where to start one tiny mistake and the patient could die. He then spends 24 hours to actually take it out. Just imagine the benefits to patient and the doctor and the hospital if he had simulations ahead of time. As well, this shows a moment in the OR where the surgeon just tells everyone to be quiet so he can think. (The noise is a bit extreme, but it does emphasize the importance of introducing variables such as noise into training programs and simulations).

Posted by Eric