Becker's is proud to name 34 hospitals and health systems with great simulation and education programs, which provide students and professionals with the opportunity to develop necessary skills in realistic yet controlled environments.
Hospitals and health systems with simulation and education programs see improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs and enhanced patient safety. The following programs offer cutting-edge technologies, lifelike scenarios and safe environments that build provider confidence through practical application.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included programs, hospitals, health systems, or associated healthcare providers. Organizations cannot pay for inclusion on this list. Hospitals and health systems are presented in alphabetical order.
We accepted nominations for this list. Please contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with any questions or comments.
Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.). The Gagnon Institute of Bioskills Training and Innovation at Morristown Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System, is an American College of Surgeons Level 1 Comprehensive Education Institute providing simulation training opportunities across multiple disciplines. Simulation resources include neonatal resuscitation training, a robotic surgery simulator, a laparoscopic trainer, code training equipment and more. Currently, the center is undergoing modernization to replicate the emergency department trauma bay, an operating room, intensive care room and flexible patient examination room.
Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Atrium has played an important role in advancing medical education for nearly 20 years. Originally, its simulation center offered simulation-based training to a diverse range of individuals. Its commitment to experiential learning expands the entire healthcare continuum. Its training programs expand not just to the needs of the Atrium community, but to healthcare providers and community groups across the region. The Carolinas Simulation Center provides a safe learning environment with state-of-the-art equipment. In the interactive learning space, learners can hone technical skills, improve decision making and ultimately improve patient care. The simulation center has had an impact on patient safety in several ways. Clinicians are trained in trauma, behavioral health and de-escalation techniques. The simulation center has earned accreditations from the American College of Surgeons and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. The program recently engaged in a collaborative partnership with the Atrium Health Women's Care Division to support a mobile simulation vehicle, set to launch in 2024. The program has also introduced a novel service line that provides participants with virtual simulation experiences using recorded simulation vignettes.
Boston Children's Hospital. Boston Children's Hospital Immersive Design Systems is a full scale design lab for training, systems engineering and rapid-prototyping with a human-centered approach. In fiscal year 2022, IDS successfully delivered 953 simulations to over 4,500 attendees. Simulation resources includes suicide risk assessment, nasogastric tube changing and replacement, virtual and augmented reality, and 3D printed and organic modeling of patient anatomy for pre-surgical planning. The IDS engineering team is heavily involved in the design and 3D printing of high-fidelity training tools, procedure simulators, and patient treatments such as a hand splint. Recently, the team created unique simulators which led to FDA clearance for an in-utero Vein of Galen Malformation procedure, which led to the first-time treatment of in-utero VOGM.
Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). At Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Neil and Elise Wallace STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation educates undergraduate, graduate, medical and nursing students, as well as allied health clinicians and other providers. The program employs scenario-based and screen-based simulation, virtual and extended reality, standardized patients and more. Ultimately, the training serves to enhance hospital processes and quality. At the core of the simulation center is research, as STRATUS aims to become an international leader in human factors and cognitive engineering sciences as applicable to healthcare. Funded by NIH, NASA and others, the Human Factors and Cognitive Engineering lab at STRATUS uses leading-edge technologies like high-fidelity simulation, digital biomarkers, AI and machine learning, and wearable sensors in order to advance patient safety and clinical outcomes.
Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Simulation Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is integrated into all residency and fellowship programs to provide simulation-based education. The Women's Guild Simulation Center for Advanced Clinical Skills meets the highest educational standards and offers professionals safe, proactive exposure to the clinical environment, as well as the latest patient simulators and medical devices. For instance, the Women's Guild Simulation Center homes an anatomical simulator and 13 robotic mannequins that can simulate giving birth. The simulation center provides leadership and management training, simulation consulting to help other institutions develop their own programs, medical device and market testing, anesthesiology certification simulation training, and much more. The simulation center trains over 20,000 students annually.
Christus Health (Irving, Texas). The Christus Simulation Institute is Christus Health's network of six simulation centers, which allow providers to practice handling clinical situations and potential patient complications in a lifelike yet controlled environment. The program provides resources for infant, pediatric and adult simulation models as well as obstetrical and ultrasonographic models. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide training, improve quality of care, and assist in the research and development of new equipment and procedures. The program is dedicated to cutting-edge research and is the primary site lead for a $3.6 million NIH grant contributing to the creation of a postpartum hemorrhage skills simulation program in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, Cornell University and Columbia University. The institute is continuously expanding and has grown from 10,000 providers in 2019 to 20,000 in 2023.
Cook County Health (Chicago). Cook County Health's portfolio encompasses two acute two acute care hospitals, over a dozen community health centers, correctional health services, CountyCare – the largest Medicaid managed care plan in Cook County – and the Cook County Department of Public Health. As both a provider and a health plan, the organization hosts 27 residency and fellowship programs, and educates over 440 doctors annually. The Cook County Simulation Training Center, established in 2005, offers simulation-based medical education for all medical professionals within Cook County Health and serves 10,000-plus students each year. Simulation modalities include procedural skills, task trainers, high-fidelity mannequins, and standardized patients.
Geisinger (Danville, Pa.). Geisinger’s simulation program, part of Geisinger College of Health Sciences, includes simulations using an intuitive robotic simulator to practice more than 35 specific procedures. Among two new high-fidelity simulators include the SimMan 3G, the most advanced emergency care patient simulator available. Programs include a clinical simulation program and a healthcare communication program, both Society for Simulation in Healthcare accredited. Clinical simulation program, which focuses on critical thinking and procedural skills, provides clinical simulation training for nearly 1,000 learners, including a mandatory central line course and a nasogastric tube course for all incoming residents and fellows. The healthcare communication program has 39 standardized patients that play various roles such as patient, family member, or member of the healthcare team. This allows learners to practice their communication skills in a safe environment with debrief and feedback sessions with trained faculty. Of note, the program offers several workshops for all members of the healthcare team, including a microaggressions workshop.
The Guthrie Clinic (Sayre, Pa.). Guthrie's simulation and advanced skills institute house an array of 40 programs that cover 13 unique physician specialties. The institute aims to both expand healthcare training and become a beacon of knowledge for practical training offerings. Its methodology utilizes 10 simulation devices that are designed to offer immersive, hands-on training that goes beyond traditional learning. As a result the system has seen marked improvements in patient care and healthcare outcomes. Its surgeon training program has played a part in the system's designation as a Level I trauma center. It has also established a virtual command center to overcome labor shortages and rising clinical costs. The center has harnessed AI technology to support patient care and achieve substantial cost savings.
Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine simulation program provides medical students with realistic simulated experiences to build skills, confidence, reflective capacity and collaboration. Diverse modalities, including high-fidelity manikins, standardized patients and specialty task trainers are utilized alongside more robust tools. One of the newer tools at the program is the LeCat Ventriloscope, a hybrid digital/analog stethoscope which allows students to analyze over 100 specific heart and lung sounds. With a holistic approach, knowledge of patient safety skills as well as patient assessment and end-of-life conversations are covered. In addition to training graduate medical students, the program also hosts "Physician for Day" events, in which high school students visit the School of Medicine and are guided by medical students through hands-on experiences with manikins and participating in an intubation workshop.
HonorHealth (Scottsdale, Ariz.). HonorHealth is focused on continuously revising its approach to education, with its current commitment to medical simulation focused on academic affairs, the center for clinical excellence and the military partnership simulation center. Simulation in graduate medical education allows trainees to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical applications. The simulation environment allows trainees to learn on a platform where they can make mistakes without putting a patient's life at risk. It builds confidence and competence to excel in the real world of healthcare. The system provides residents and fellows with 14 simulation services for 150 residents and fellows and 900 medical students annually. Simulation at the center for clinical excellence allows healthcare providers to refine their skills and practice with new and emerging medical technologies. Simulated scenarios range from routine patient care to complex surgical interventions. The military simulation center allows military medical personnel to practice high-stress scenarios and patient encounters that they often face. The center has trained 595 military healthcare providers to date.
Inova (Falls Church, Va.). Inova offers the most technologically advanced surgery simulation facility in the region through its Advanced Surgical Technology and Education Center, which provides real-time surgical training and education to enhance skills, allow for observation and evaluation, and provide team building opportunities. The center encourages hands-on learning for residents, including general surgery, neurosurgery, podiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology, with the overarching goal of optimizing patient care and minimizing adverse outcomes. The program provides 3D-printed, patient-specific models to preoperatively simulate, rehearse, and optimize complex surgeries or rare cases. Among other accomplishments, the program has recently designed training for first responders, engaged youth programs and coordinated traveling clinicians to support underserved countries. Inova also offers the Inova Center for Advanced Medical Simulation, a state-of-the-art hospital-based simulation center accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in assessment, systems integration, and teaching and education. The center's scenarios involve high-fidelity manikins, task trainers, and/or standardized patients, and the center works closely with IT and biomedical departments to integrate and test new technologies.
Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). Created under the partnership between the School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Johns Hopkins Medical Simulation Center provides nursing, respiratory therapy and medical students as well as house-staff with human patient simulation, virtual reality, task trainers and computerized simulations. With high-fidelity manikins, simulated patient examination and communication, simulated procedures and task training, the Simulation Center not only enhances student learning but also improves patient safety and amplifies research being done on simulation as a diagnostic tool.
Kaiser Permanente (Los Angeles). Kaiser Permanente's Garfield Center comprises mocked-up rooms, robot prototypes, interactive screens and simulation environments including a surgical suite, labor and delivery area, patient home, hospital ward, consulting room and nurse workstation. The center utilizes prototyping, testing and simulation, in addition to inputs from clinicians, care teams and patients, to test technologies and new designs before their implementation. Current focus areas for the center include preventing and mitigating childhood trauma, developing food insecurity interventions and designing patient centric hospital rooms.
Kaweah Health (Visalia, Calif.). The Kaweah Health Simulation Center has been open since 2007. The center comprises a multi-station skills lab and a high-fidelity simulation suite with adjacent control room and debriefing room, utilizing SimMan, SimJunior, and SimBaby manikins, as well as GI-Bronch Mentor and Heartworks & Bodyworks Simulators. It has been an instrumental piece of the Kaweah Health graduate medical education program, offering both simulation education as well as a clinical teaching and simulation fellowship for residents looking to become simulation leaders.
MedStar Health (Columbia, Md.). The MedStar Health Simulation Training & Education Lab serves as the main education infrastructure for MedStar Health, training professionals across all 50 states as a full-scale operation within the MedStar Institute for Innovation. The 100-plus team members provide training initiatives, education consultation, program development, technical support and program delivery. The product suite includes hands-on learning opportunities, interactive online training, virtual high-fidelity simulation, and continuing professional education. The program fully embraces innovation and employs new technologies like virtual and augmented reality, point-of-care ultrasound and AI to enhance medical training. The team trained over 22,000 simulation learners and supported more than 1.2 million online learning completions in fiscal year 2023. Recently, the program has created its first large service line program in obstetrical risk-reduction efforts and has spearheaded multiple virtual and extended reality educational offerings.
MemorialCare Long Beach (Calif.) Medical Center. Opening in 2004 in partnership with California State University Long Beach and as part of a new trimester BSN nursing degree program, the Simulation Laboratory has expanded to train a variety of clinicians. These include practicing physicians and those going through residencies, as well as a 10-year partnership with city of Long Beach to train and hire personal care assistants. The large facility has several high-fidelity simulators and cutting-edge technology. Its goals are to train current and future professionals using lifelike manikins to simulate varying levels of human patient simulations, animations and medical interventions. Since 2014, through a Long Beach Unified School District’s High School Healthcare Pathway Simulation Program partnership, teens wanting to pursue health careers receive early work-based learning experience in a hospital with hands-on training with medical professionals. One of a few programs of its kind, 97% of student participants go on to pursue an education in healthcare, helping address the shortage of professionals. As one of the nation’s most socioeconomically and ethnically, diverse cities, the program helps cultivate a more diverse workforce.
Memorial Health (Springfield, Ill.). Memorial opened its learning center in 2015 on the campus of its flagship hospital in Springfield. The facility has since been dedicated to supporting and developing the capabilities of the healthcare workforce and promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement. In addition, the learning center has multiple simulation facilities and surgical skills labs. Its simulation center has 10 simulated learning environments and 16,000 square feet of patient care rooms, operating rooms and ambulance and patient homes. The facility is also a teaching hospital for Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. The center also hosts training free of charge for paramedics and emergency medicine providers in the state. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the center shifted its priorities to become a training center for nurses and physicians treating respiratory illnesses. It also pivoted to virtual sessions for frontline staff members, promoting social distancing and remote learning.
Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Through collaboration and innovation, the Mount Sinai Health System has implemented a multitude of simulation programs that are decentralized across the system and schools of medicine and nursing. The various programs use integrated technologies such as extended reality and virtual reality to improve education, patient safety, and healthcare quality locally, regionally, and globally. Programs include the Simulation, Teaching, and Research (STAR) Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital, the Human Emulation, Education, and Evaluation Lab for Patient Safety and Professional Study (HELPS) Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital, the Mount Sinai Center for Surgical Simulation, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence at The Mount Sinai Hospital, the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation (CAMS) at Mount Sinai West, the Simulation Center at Mount Sinai Morningside, the Mount Sinai Philips School of Nursing Simulation Center, and the Morchand Center for Clinical Competence at the Icahn School of Medicine.
NCH Healthcare System (Naples, Fla.). The NCH Judith and Marvin Herb Family Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary facility providing a safe and realistic environment to practice and perfect skills. The space is equipped for training and education with high-tech and high-fidelity equipment, simulation rooms, classrooms, and debriefing areas. The facility offers training to all members of the healthcare team, as well as emergency service personnel like police officers and paramedics. It is also available as a resource for private medical practices, schools, universities, film and a wide array of other professions and services in the community.
NYU Langone Health (New York City). The goal of NYU's NYSIM facility is to provide simulation education and research that fosters quality care, patient safety, and effective communication with patients and among health care professionals. The facility is a hub for education in the health sciences at both NYU and CUNY. Since its opening in 2011, NYSIM has had more than 50,000 learner visits and delivered nearly 2,000 simulation courses for NYU and CUNY medical, nursing and dental students, residents, staff physicians and nurses, physician assistants, respiratory therapists as well as those in other healthcare fields. NYSIM offers training to first responders in the New York area, including firefighters and emergency medical service personnel. The hub has expanded accessibility for all learners, assessed educational and health outcomes through research and data analysis, cultivated a focus on quality and safety, continued education consultations, model teamwork and a non-judgmental learning environment and increased the simulation lab's local, national and global visibility.
Nebraska Medicine/University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha). In 2020, University of Nebraska Medical Center opened an advanced clinical simulation facility designed to foster patient care in highly functioning and effective interprofessional teams. Proximal to UNMC colleges and Nebraska Medicine, the five levels of Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center work together as one collaborative unit to create safe, innovative and experiential training environments. UNMC’s iEXCEL initiative, headquartered in the center, advances healthcare education through simulation-based techniques and 3D augmented and virtual reality technologies. Within the center, replicated clinics, hospitals, ambulatory and home care units enable learners to simulate and practice incidents, events and patient care scenarios to build confidence and skills, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. The center, which features the first holographic theatre in any academic institution in the world, trains UNMC healthcare students from all disciplines as well as Nebraska Medicine healthcare professionals. The venue supports research and business development, including content creation for its 3D, virtual reality and holographic technologies. Since 2020, the iEXCEL team has hosted over 121,000 interprofessional students, faculty, health professionals and special guests, facilitated over 7,000 mixed modality simulation and visualization sessions, and established partnerships with 40-plus surgical, technology and education industry collaborators.
Northeast Georgia Health System (Gainesville). Northeast Georgia's simulation center promotes high-quality and safe patient care through education, research development and simulation-based training and experiential learning. Externally, the center partners with high schools, colleges and EMS departments throughout Northeast Georgia to provide simulated healthcare trainings. To date, 6,742 participants have been served by the training center, including physicians, nurses, medical assistants, physical therapists, first responders and college and high school students. The center has also partnered with multiple law enforcement agencies to educate tactical team members and EMS providers. Resident physicians also got to participate in a pilot utilizing virtual reality simulations to train on healthcare disparities, diversity, equity and inclusion.
NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health (Evanston, Ill.). NorthShore's Grainger Center for Simulation & Innovation was established in 2011 to provide support for the healthcare workforce. The interprofessional simulation team works with every specialty to help providers of all experience levels perfect critical skills needed to provide safe, effective, expert care. With 150 hours of active curriculum per month, the simulation team serves more than 8,000 learners annually. The center, which is accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the American College of Surgeons, promotes psychologically safe experiential learning and debriefing. Beyond training, the center fosters innovation through its surgical simulation programming and 3D printing pre-procedural planning program.
OSF HealthCare (Peoria, Ill.). Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center is a partnership between OSF HealthCare and the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria. As part of OSF Innovation, the six-floor, 168,000-square-foot center is a hub for healthcare education, offering various programs including interprofessional simulations to address critical programmatic and clinical needs. Examples include simulations to identify safety issues and improve systems, courses for educators to learn how to design simulations that demonstrate value, and fellowships for physicians and workshops to help external simulation centers learn how to determine the value of their training programs. Over the past decade, Jump has hosted more than 1.1 million learner visits, benefiting over 72,000 participants and producing over 670 trained simulation facilitators. It has also led science, technology, engineering, art, and math programs to train future healthcare professionals. Jump simulation and education programs have resulted in more than $1 million in validated cost savings for OSF and more than $10 million in cost avoidance.
Ochsner Health (New Orleans). Since opening in 2017, the Ochsner Clinical Simulation and Patient Safety Center has offered high-fidelity human patient simulators mimicking real physiological functions for students to safely acquire and practice their clinical skills with. Ochsner Health currently sponsors 30 ACGME-accredited residency and fellowship programs, with more than 300 residents, fellows, and interns pursuing graduate medical education at any given time. Also, in January 2023, Ochsner Health announced its partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana to establish a joint College of Medicine.
Orlando (Fla.) Health. The simulation program at Orlando Health, launched in 2009, provides new clinicians with two simulation centers: the Orlando Health Institute for Learning Simulation Center, and the Medical Education Center for Simulation-Based Training. The program employs bedside educators in guiding students through simulations of mock codes, adverse reactions, stroke, orthopedics, respiratory disease, precipitous delivery, sepsis and more. In addition, the program also participates in an annual systemwide mock mass casualty event to reinforce emergency preparedness. To accommodate the program's fast expansion, Orlando Health developed a 2.5 day course which has trained nearly 100 team members across hospital sites to facilitate simulation. Furthermore, in May 2023, the first cohort of the year-long fellowship program for simulation facilitation began.
Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Ind.). The Parkview Health Sim Lab has worked vigorously towards process standardization and policy writing as part of its differentiation strategy. Thanks to its efforts, it was accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2020 and by the American College of Surgeons as an accredited education institution in 2022. In 2023, the program was approved to build a fellowship program to instruct physician fellows on simulation program theory, operations, business and leadership. As simulation research is one of the program's current priorities, ongoing internal projects are reviewed for potential qualifications as research projects and eventual publications. When projects would require expensive training equipment, alternative low-cost trainers were built to enable non-inferiority analysis for publication. Over the past seven years, Parkview Health’s Mirro Advanced Simulation Lab has been building a mobile simulation program featuring three simulation trucks, which will provide first responders with emergency medical training.
Penn Medicine (Philadelphia). The Simulation at Penn Medicine began as a physical entity in 2008 to facilitate team-based simulation and skills training. The state-of-the-art facility provides training to 13,500 physicians, healthcare professionals and students per year, representing 19 clinical departments across six health system entities, the Perelman School of Medicine, neighboring institutions, and the global healthcare field. Learners participate in over 1,300 educational events and accrue over 66,000 hours. Its mission is to advance high reliability by leveraging innovative simulation strategies to navigate successful change and develop engaged teams, a skilled workforce and strong leaders. This mission dictates its programmatic priorities, curriculum and research activities. Since its origin, Simulation at Penn Medicine expanded to support clinical unit-based, “in situ” training at multiple Penn Medicine hospitals, specialty facility and ambulatory practices. It serves as an American Health Association training center for the health system and holds accreditations with American College of Surgeons and Society for Simulation in Health Care. Simulation at Penn Medicine has won two system-wide quality and patient safety awards in recognition of its impact on patient safety.
Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Prime Healthcare's PrimE-Academy provides a user-friendly learning platform for Prime Healthcare clinical and non-clinical workers to participate in live virtual learning experiences through webinars. PrimE-Academy helps to supplement Prime's full offering of live training. The program features an interactive virtual classroom, an on-demand course library and a registration calendar of virtual events. Available programs include new hire orientations, critical care series' and a leadership and patient experience series. Since the platforms launch in January, hundreds of nurses have participated in the live critical care course, two special events have been held on burnout and compassion fatigue, multidisciplinary events have provided education on ideas sharing and a de-escalation and crisis intervention training program was held teaching clinicians self-defense maneuver options. Prime has also embarked on a strategic partnership with Steer Health to create a next-generation consumer engagement experience for Prime's 45 hospitals and 300 outpatient locations.
Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). Funded by a $3.1 million donor grant, the state-of-the-art Helmsley Simulation and Innovation Center at Renown Health is currently under construction to expand the health system’s academic partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. It will substantially increase training capacity from 1,500 to 2,500 clinicians each year across urban and rural settings with training modules focused on rural health and virtual health. The center features three simulated patient rooms, classroom space, computer labs and a conference center, allowing trainers to run current and future healthcare professionals through real-life acute, outpatient, telemedicine and specialty care scenarios. It will replace the current simulation center, which opened in 2016.
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo, N.Y.). The 125-year-old Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, which was one of the very first to be named a National Cancer Institute cancer center, makes sure innovation and next-generation tools reach every corner of its complementary cancer research, treatment and education programs. Roswell Park was the first cancer center to incorporate high-fidelity simulation into nurse training, and in the first 10 months over 100 professionals have benefited from simulation training in its Marie E. Bogner Center for Nursing Excellence. In the sim room, nurses run through hypothetical scenarios including codes, medical emergencies, chemotherapy administration, and occupational or environmental safety incidents. They learn from a speaking, responsive mannequin how to check breath, take vitals and monitor lung and bowel sounds. Roswell Park is also a pioneer in robot-assisted surgery, and students and veteran surgeons alike go there for simulation-based training in da Vinci skills mastery, fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery, LapSkills and GI MentorExpress/fundamentals of endoscopic surgery.
Stanford Medicine (Palo Alto, Calif.). Stanford University School of Medicine and its hospitals established the Center for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning in hopes of pioneering novel techniques, technologies and applications for patient care. The system benefits from the simulation center's practical- and research-based findings. The program promotes innovation, with the ability to formulate clinical spaces that mirror their real-life counterparts closely and allows students to practice before live clinical testing. Among the simulation modalities available are standardized patients, part-task physical trainers, virtual reality, desktop simulations and mannequin-based simulators. The center also operates the Goodman Immersive Learning Center, a simulation facility that serves budding surgeons at the medical school.
Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital/CAMLS at USF Health. Tampa General is the leading academic health system in the region, leveraging its academic partnership with the University of South Florida to teach and train the next generation of healthcare professionals. A large portion of the university's ongoing training is delivered through simulation programs at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation, or CAMLS. USF CAMLS was established in 2012 and encompasses 90,000 square feet of simulation space for healthcare professionals and students. The center trains nurses, physicians and support staff on evidence-based clinical practices including neonatal care, skin preparation and catheter insertion and removal. CAMLS supports the training of 100 incoming medical residents annually. Tampa General also provides simulation training for medical residents by specialty, including emergency medicine, neurosurgery and more. In partnership with CAMLS, Tampa General has recently enhanced its simulation program, adding extended reality training, virtual and augmented reality training options. The technology is being used to simulate hospital settings, from operating rooms to patient rooms. The facility also recently acquired one of the first commercial off-the-shelf devices for haptic technology in medical technology. The program also has technologically advanced mannequins that can breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
UAB Clinical Simulation (Birmingham, Ala.). As part of University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine, UAB Clinical Simulation encourages all members of the healthcare team to “SimFirst” before delivering patient care. The program offers opportunities for individuals and teams to learn and practice through hands-on training for procedures, processes and events across the health system and beyond. Simulation experiences are often co-created with domain experts and may include immersive, procedural and systems simulations, as well as virtual reality, augmented reality and e-learning options. The department is collaborative, offering interdepartmental learning opportunities while tailoring experiences to meet facilitators’ specific needs. The program also homes the UAB Mobile Simulation lab, which is the only one of its kind in the state. Equipped with two simulation areas and the latest in simulation technology, the mobile lab helps provide simulation resources to rural communities across the state and supports the educational objectives of the Alabama Rural Health Collaborative and its member institutions. UAB Clinical Simulation aims to support any profession in the health system, from environmental services to discharge planners, from registration professionals to parking lot attendants and all points in between.
UCLA Health/David Geffen School of Medicine (Los Angeles). UCLA Health recently opened a new 30,600-square-foot facility that serves as a cutting-edge hub for medical education, surgical innovation and healthcare technology. The UCLA Simulation Center and the Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology features the latest equipment and an audiovisual system for live streaming and recording. It brings together mock clinical experiences, surgical and procedural simulation and hospital team training under one roof, underscoring UCLA Health’s dedication to high quality patient care and medical education supported by the latest technologies, scientific research and medical advances. The facility advances healthcare education by pioneering simulation-based techniques and innovating through research and development in areas such as surgical interventions, biodesign, extended reality and AI. The new facility facilitates interprofessional training and collaboration for not only UCLA medical personnel and students but also nursing, dental and other professional schools.
UPMC (Pittsburgh). The University of Pittsburgh's Wiser Institute for Simulation, Education and Research was established in 1994. An integral piece of the University as well as the UPMC Health System, WISER offers a fellowship program as one of the few centers in the world accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in all five specialty areas. WISER's programs aim not only to provide simulation based training, but also to improve patient safety, explore improvements in healthcare delivery and foster research on simulation education.
UW Medicine (Seattle). WISH is the University of Washington's simulation center, which spans 30 departments throughout UW Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, and the physician assistant training program. With the use of cutting-edge technology, WISH facilitates education and training so learners can perfect their skills before applying them to a patient. Created in 2009, WISH promotes interprofessional team communication, effectively reducing the margin of error and keeping patients safer. Donations, along with awards such as the WISH Innovation in Simulation Award, help support innovations in technology, education and delivery. The program's research arm, the Center for Research in Education and Simulation Technologies, supports advancement in the field of healthcare simulation sciences via the creation of realistic models, virtual environments, and more.
University of Miami Health System. Miami's Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education, S.H.A.R.E., provides clinical, research and educational simulation opportunities. With easily personalizable environments that can mirror ambulance bays, emergency departments, incident command centers, outpatient clinics, labor and delivery suites, operating rooms and more, students have unparalleled access to authentic equipment, techniques and experiences in a safe, simulated setting. S.H.A.R.E.'s research contributes greatly to patient safety, disaster preparedness, health equity and more. The program is beginning to incorporate augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies to help familiarize students with operating rooms before clinical placement. Students, healthcare professionals, first responders and corporate partners alike can access the S.H.A.R.E. facility. The hospital was established in 2017 and has since played a crucial role in creating and standardizing processes that address hurricanes, active shooters, disease outbreaks and other disasters.
University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (Memphis, Tenn.). University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center opened the state-of-the-art Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation in 2018. The center utilizes standardized patients, high-fidelity patient simulators and virtual reality settings to educate students, residents, professionals and clinicians. The facility serves those at the dentistry, graduate health sciences, health professions, nursing, medicine, and pharmacy colleges, preparing them to deliver high-quality team-based healthcare. In 2022, the program guided 19,410 non-unique learners through simulation events.
University of Utah Health (Salt Lake City). The Simulation Learning Center at the University of Utah College of Nursing provides simulation education and research for students, faculty, clinical staff and community partners. Students, including pre-license and graduate nursing students, medical students and residents spend an entire day each week of the semester in the center harnessing psychomotor skills, critical thinking and clinical judgment, led by full-time faculty educators. The learning center is also shared frequently by the College of Nursing for courses and conferences, such as the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Boot Camp for first-year fellows as well as a two-day pediatric and neonatal care ultrasound course. In 2022, the simulation team at the center was nominated for the International Nursing Association of Clinical and Simulation Learning Frontline Simulation Champion Excellence Award.
WellSpan Health (York, Pa.). WellSpan has several education programs throughout South Central Pennsylvania to inspire and nurture talent within the healthcare industry. Its York hospital offers several training programs including nine residency programs, six clinical fellowships, six allied health education programs, hundreds of clerkship rotations every year for medical students, a high-quality volunteer program for teenagers interested in going into healthcare and engaging hands-on school programs. Across the system, it offers developmental programs associated with behavioral health, psychology and more. WellSpan also supports students through scholarship opportunities, including five major annual scholarship programs.