CMS faculty members Robert Simon, Dan Raemer, Jenny Rudolph and Walter Eppich are in Australia to teach the IMS “Simulation As A Teaching Tool” and “Advanced Debriefing”  Workshops to our simulation friends in the land of OZ.  This is our third year conducting workshops in Australia and we never fail to be impressed by the knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication of Simulation Educators in this wonderful country.  CMS has made many friends here and hopes to make these workshops an ongoing event. 

After the Australia workshops, Robert, Dan and Walter will be doing something new this year. Instead of heading home they’ll  travelling further west, or is that east, to Hong Kong where they’ll be conducting the “Simulation As A Teaching Tool” workshop for our friends at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. 

The dates for the 2011 workshops in Australia and Hong Kong are:

• Melbourne, Australia: February 14-17    Sponsored by Monash University
• Brisbane, Australia: February 21 – 24    Sponsored by the Queensland Skills Development Service
• Sydney, Australia: March 1-4    Sponsored by the Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre
• Hong Kong, SAR China: March 8 -12    Sponsored by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority

In June, Robert Simon will help teach the ”Simulation As A Teaching Tool” workshop at our IMS/Europe Affiliate, Hospital Virtual Valdecilla in Santander, Spain. The cost for this workshop is only $2,000 Euros and it will be conducted in English. Contact Ignacio delMoral at idelmoral@me.com for more information.

CMS has a full time opening for an experienced Medical Simulation Education Specialist. This individual will assist in organizing and conducting teamwork and train-the-trainer educational courses that use web-based distance learning, social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), and on-site clinical simulation technologies (such as mannequins, standardized patients, and computer simulations). The Specialist may also be involved in posting content developed by others to blogs and social media, operating web-conferencing computer platforms, coordination of logistics of web-based training, or setting up, troubleshooting and operating mannequin technology for simulation courses or medical device testing, coordinating simulation logistics, and research support.

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The Center for Medical Simulation is adding three additional simulation instructor courses for 2011 in New York City, USA and Santander, Spain.

IMS – New York

January 4-7, 2011
IMSAL Jacobi Medical CenterBronx, New York
Tuition $4,000.00
For more information, and to register, click here.
Download a brochure on the IMS New York Instructor Course by clicking here.

IMS – Europe

June  6-9, 2011 (Conducted in English)
June 14-17, 2011  (Conducted simulatanteously in Spanish and English)
Hospital Virtual Valdecilla
Santander, Spain
Tuition 2.000 Euros
For more information please email Ignacio del Moral, MD, PhD, Director of the Hospital Virtual Valdecilla at idelmoral@me.com
Download a brochure on the IMS Spain Instructor Course by clicking here.

Last Friday marked the end of an era at CMS as Jordan Halasz, CMS’ Director of Technology, officially retired after 17 years at CMS and over 30 years within the MGH system. As many of you know, Jordan has been at CMS since it’s beginning. He will truly be missed. However, CMS’ loss is going to be the University of Miami’s gain. Starting in November Jordan will become their Nursing School’s Director of Simulation Services. This is a wonderful opportunity for Jordan. Not only will he have the opportunity to help build a new simulation center, he’ll be able to indulge in his lifelong passion, golf, on a regular basis. Everyone here at CMS wishes Jordan and his wife, Maxine, all the best!  Click on this link to our facebook page at www.facebook.com/medicalsimulation to see pictures of our farewell dinner for Jordan where many of his Boston area simulation friends celebrated Jordan and all he meant to us.

Upcoming Events at CMS, Cambridge, MA

• 09/22/2010 Labor and Delivery Course (L&D CRM-1)
• 09/24/2010 Crisis Management Training for Practicing Anesthesiologists -held at CMS Cambridge, MA. This workshop is specifically designed to meets the American Board of Anesthesiology’s MOCA Simulation Requirement
• 09/28/2010 Anesthesia Crisis Management Training (ACRM-2)
• 09/29/2010 Labor and Delivery Course (L&D CRM-3)
• 10/01/2010 RMF Surgery Teamwork Workshop
• 10/04/2010-10/09/2010 Comprehensive Simulation Instructor Course
• 10/12/2010 Boston Simulation Community Research and Education Meeting

CMS’ Institute for Medical Simulation held a 5 1/2 day Simulation Instructor Workshop last week at its offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Attending the course were twenty physicians, nurses and educators from around the world including countries as far away as China and Australia.

Established in 2004 and updated through the years, the Comprehensive Instructor Workshop in Medical Simulation is the Institute’s most comprehensive and immersive program. Attendees represent a wide range of experience, disciplines and specialties, but all share one common goal: to become outstanding educational leaders or directors of a current or prospective simulation program. With experiential education being the keystone of simulation, the course is a mix of theory, practice and feedback so that students develop a strong and comprehensive understanding of how to most effectively use simulation within their education programs. Widely respected, dedicated educators with years of simulation experience lead the course with one main goal in mind: Transform every IMS student to be an outstanding educator.

For this workshop, a new half-day module, led by Sharon Muret-Wagstaff PhD, MPA, was added that positions clinical simulation leaders to understand the steps needed to choose, use, or create an assessment instrument. The new curriculum features three case studies of clinicians using assessment to enhance learning in their institutions. One case highlights the challenges clinicians face in choosing the right assessment instrument to assess learning outcomes in PALS courses. Another case outlines how clinicians can use already-validated teamwork instruments to assess the efficacy of simulation based teamwork courses. And, the third case illustrates how assessment can be important at the level of the overall simulation program by helping simulation center leaders think through how to assess the success for their center as a whole.

Jeff Cooper has written an editorial entitled, “Using Simulation To Teach and Study Healthcare Handoffs” for the August 2010 edition of Simulation in Healthcare. As Jeff notes in his editorial, Patient Handoffs, also called handovers or shiftchanges, are considered one of the most critical issues in patient safety. Read about Jeff’s thoughts on using simulation to raise awareness and hopefully help reduce the risk of handoffs.

Both Jeff and Dan Raemer are in Australia this week at the SimTecT Health 2010 conference. SimTect Health is the annual conference for the Australian Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Monday evening Jeff and Dan hosted a reception for Institute for Medical Simulation graduates. And, both are speakers at plenary sessions, round tables and workshops.

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