VCOM View Vol 10 No 1

Inventing a New Educational Tool I magine a medical emergency where a patient has arrived to a hospital emergency room in serious distress. Emotions are high and trained medical personnel are manikin simulators. These manikin simulators talk, breathe, show pulses and exhibit many other life- like features. However, according to VCOM-Auburn Associate Dean for the Center for Simulation and it may be avoided due to the lack of realism and the expense of replacing parts and coverings. by Scott Godwin

Another shortfall that White has noticed is that students subconsciously know they are working on a manikin. At the end of the day, everyone knows that the manikin won’t be maimed or injured if the student makes a mistake. There is also an emotional disconnect as the manikin just cannot match the emotions and feelings that a real person in a real emergency situation would convey. All of this, according to White, can lead to a disruption in the learning process as critical steps are forgotten, skipped or completed out of order.

rushing into action to assist the patient.In this situation, a skipped step, or one out of order, could further complicate an already dangerous situation for a patient. VCOM students train exactly for these types of situations in the simulation centers on each campus and in disaster simulation events. While patient actors can act out many medical scenarios, most medical procedures are taught on inanimate plastic task trainers. To add realism to the experience, educators often incorporate computer-controlled

Technology, Jeremy J. White, DO, PhD, these manikins still have shortfalls. Manikins lay on a stretcher expressionless. Their skin is rubbery and does not look or feel like normal human tissue. Additionally, students can only perform certain procedures on certain manikins or task trainers, resulting in pauses or gaps in the simulation. According to White, this can separate a student from the gravity of the scenario and the need to learn a critical procedure without mistakes. Even if a manikin is capable of some procedures,

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