The Goodman Simulation Center at Stanford
Contact Information
Director
Dr. Thomas Krummel
Administrative Director
Administrative Assistant to Dr. Krummel
Sr. Surgery Education Fellow
The mission of the Department of Surgery at Stanford University, under the tutelage of Dr. Thomas Krummel, is to provide optimal patient care, to deliver outstanding graduate education, and to invent the future of Surgery through a commitment to basic science, clinical research and innovation. The Educational Institute of the Department of Surgery and the Goodman Simulation Center is an integral part of this mission and of the broad educational programs throughout Stanford University.
The Goodman Simulation Center, which opened its doors in June 2007, is in the heart of Stanford Hospital and is only a few feet away from the operating room suites. This geographic proximity to the hub of surgical activities lends itself to drop in practice, pre-surgical planning, and available tools to improve the skills of our learners. The Center’s Skill Area is open 24/7 (via card access) to all surgical residents. In addition to the Center’s accessibility, there are two surgical education fellows in the Center on a daily basis. These Education Fellows, under the mentorship of Dr. Sanjeev Dutta, are active in teaching and performing research on patient safety and gender differences. Much of their research has been published or presented at academic conferences. Dr. Parent presented his research at the 2009 Academic Surgical Congress (AAS-SUS) in Fort Myers, Florida in February and both Drs. Parent and Long presented their work at the 2009 Surgical Education Week in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dr. Ralph Greco, Director of Surgical Programs for the Goodman Center has been instrumental in the development of Student Chief Resident Instruction Practice and Teaching thru Simulation (SCRIPTS). Weekly, the chief resident on Gold, Red, White and Trauma meet with the student(s) assigned to their service and has a focused teaching session using simulation. The student is encouraged to present to their chief ideas to enhance their learning. Previous sessions have included VR lap cholecystectomy, camera navigation and other lap skills; as well as subcuticular suturing, knot tying, chest tube and central line insertion and advanced trauma life support.
The Goodman Simulation Center plays host to a variety of learners and disciplines. In addition to surgical residents, it is also used by medical students, residents from other disciplines, nursing professionals and respiratory therapists are just some of the constituents served. Surgical residents have protected education time every Tuesday morning. During this time, residents practice skills or decision making relevant to their surgical rotation in the Simulation Center. In addition to these regular Tuesday morning sessions, each year of residents are scheduled for day-long boot camps (in the case of the surgery interns, boot camp is several days).
Boot camp occur twice a year and have elements in both the animal lab and the simulation center. The surgical curriculum was developed in accordance with the ACS curriculum guidelines. Intern boot camp provides the opportunity to learn skills in central line placement, chest tube insertion, hernia repair, basic surgical skills and techniques, simulated patient floor calls and more. At the end of the intern year the interns participate in an “extended boot camp” that covers critical care and basic laparoscopy skills. These “extended boot camps” are repeated each year and cover the skills determined to be relevant to the past year of training. The newest boot camp to be introduced this year is a “rising 4th year boot camp” which will focus on leadership skills, team management and patient safety. Boot camps have received the highest praises from participants.
The Goodman Simulation Center also hosts pre-op rounds for Stanford General Surgery teams. Pre-op conference outlines the cases for the week, utilizing 3D rendering software to explore patient CT scans in stereo using the Center’s stereo viewer. Feedback from the residents indicates that 3D viewing improves their understanding of disease and feedback from attending physicians indicates that it facilities surgical planning.
The Goodman Simulation Center houses vascular trainers, virtual reality laparoscopic trainers, box trainers, colonoscopy trainers and two mannequins (one dedicated to the Center for OR/ICU/ED/Floor simulations and the other which is mobile and used throughout the hospital for in situ simulation drills).
The Vascular Department has been very active in the simulation center for both medical student and resident vascular training. Dr. Jason T Lee, is Associate Program Director for the ACGME accredited Vascular Fellowship/Integrated Residency Training Program and Principal Investigator on multiple clinical trials examining new therapeutic strategies for management of cerebrovascular disease, claudication and limb salvage, renovascular hypertension, and aortic aneurysm disease. Dr. Lee has become particularly interested in innovative methods of teaching endovascular skills via the use of high-fidelity simulation in the treatment of these complex clinical problems. He has been recognized locally and nationally for his contributions to surgical education and simulation
A major aim of Dr. Lee’s work is to determine if a simulation-based endovascular surgery curriculum will improve trainee performance measured by technical skill, didactic knowledge, and learner satisfaction. He will assess in this project endovascular simulation as a tool to promote procedural efficiency in the endovascular suite and reduce procedural errors. Finally, he will create a Vascular Surgery Registry at Stanford to determine if the implementation of a structured educational program translates into improved patient outcomes and patient safety. To accomplish these aims a multi-center national trial of surgical resident randomization of their educational curriculum will be organized through Stanford, with collaboration for experts in the School of Education, and mentors in multiple disciplines expert at simulation-based assessment. Dr. Lee hopes that this project will lead to development of a nationally-adopted endovascular curriculum and assessment tool to determine fundamentals of endovascular surgery
The Goodman Simulation Center at Stanford is a member of the Center for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning (CISL), a broad consortium that encompasses all of simulation activities with oversight by David Gaba, MD, Associate Dean for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning.
