SCSC – Now open to train (continued)

By Camille Webb

"They're all evaluated at the end before they go into the clinical ward," Dr. Reichman says. "We can make sure that all the students have the same basic knowledge and skills to move on to the next step."

Designed not only to be a place where students can learn medicine in different ways, the vision of the SCSC also was to be a place where faculty and residents could learn and continue to hone their professional and clinical skills.

Medical School faculty and residents can earn required credit through continuing medical education (CME) courses conveniently taken at the SCSC and sponsored by outside organizations.

"We'll be doing CME courses here, and our faculty will be involved. An outside company or group or sponsor may be providing equipment for the activity," Dr. Reichman explains.

Medical School faculty also will typically teach the CME courses to residents, but some seminars will be demonstrated by outside groups.

"We're going to have some outside groups using the center to train UT residents or faculty on new equipment or surgical techniques," Dr. Reichman says, adding that a two-day CME lab is set for April and one for May for Otolaryngology (ENT) residents.

The SCSC has upcoming plans for use of its high-tech equipment for practicing medical students, as well as outreach to high school and college students.

Starting in the 2007 academic year, third-year Medical School students on surgery rotations will be coming by the SCSC for a procedure day. The SCSC will be used weekly in the new fourth-year critical care rotation.

"The course is mandatory, but they have a choice of where they want to do it," Dr. Reichman says. "Every Wednesday afternoon, the students will be in the SCSC practicing skills used in the critical care curriculum."

Dr. Reichman also is working with Judianne Kellaway, M.Ed., M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and visual science and assistant dean for admissions, on creating a program for high school students that allows them to have a practice day in the SCSC whereby they might use the low-end simulators or "task trainers" as well as the high-end simulators for more sophisticated patient care.

"Dr. Kellaway and I are working on a curriculum for the high school students to come to the SCSC as part of their day at the Medical School and let them do different things, like practice CPR, work with the manikins, suturing, etc. Each time a new group comes through, they can learn a different practice," Dr. Reichman says. "We're working on the logistics now. We have to come up with a cost to be able to say how much it will cost per student. We want to break even for the use of equipment and supplies, not make a profit."

There's a similar program in the works geared for college premedical students that will be on a more sophisticated level than the one geared toward high school students.

Now open for business, the Surgical and Clinical Skills Center's alternative approaches to teaching today's medical students, physicians, and the community are limited only by imagination and time.