Blog 001: One Day or Day One?

Herron B -

Good Morning once again everyone! It’s Herron, and I first want to thank Black Rock and Cafe Bolo for fueling me every day this week; they have been the real MVPs! (Blended Matcha Lattes and Taro Slushes with Tapioca Pearls for the win!)

The first week inside the Health Sciences Innovation Building (HSIB) has been nothing short of incredible. I was toured through the entire 7th floor and had the opportunity to learn about the short history of ASTEC and the types of healthcare workers that drop by the center. I spent lots of my time trying to familiarize myself with medical simulator terminology and the history of medical simulators as a whole. I even had the chance to try out the FLS (Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery) Trainer System to test my psychomotor skills and dexterity!

One of the biggest highlights this week was learning how to function Laerdal’s High-Fidelity Manikin! From the basics of turning the patient on and off to tweaking the overwhelming amount of vitals and functions of the patient, my introduction to functioning medical simulators was both informational and intriguing. As I get more comfortable with these simulators, I hope to officially set up simulators for real classes set for students!

Another big highlight this week was shadowing the team as they taught students how to manually defibrillate patients and deal with stressful situations. Watching the ASTEC team provide valuable information like breathing techniques (my favorite is the 4-7-8 technique) and types of food to help with stress has helped me realize that there are a variety of ways that ASTEC can do outside of medical simulators to create clarity in student’s minds when they undergo very stressful scenarios. I plan to learn more ways they can do so!

Below will showcase different parts of the center:

A simulated OR room. The room includes a high-fidelity patient which can instantaneously respond to learners’ stimuli.

 

An Anatomage Table. This table can display and visualize all the organ systems for 4 cadavers of real human beings.

 

Next week, I plan to continue my readings and be taught the skills needed to set up more simulators by my on-site mentor, Simulation Operations Specialist Ms. Merryl Lopido, and her team! I’ll see you next week!

– Herron

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Comments:

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    connor_l
    Your project seems really cool and I really like how it's looking so far! Do you know when you will be able to start setting up some of the simulators?
    karthik_a
    Your project sounds really unique with all the machines and gadgets you get to work with! What is your favorite thing you've learned from the readings you've done so far?
    vera_m
    Hello Herron! Your project is looking good so far, and I am intrigued by the patient simulator. What skill are you most excited to learn?
    komla_w
    Hey Herron, I also stayed in the ASTEC lab for a while. What is your favorite part of the lab so far? I liked looking in the camera room that watched the med students practice their simulations.
    herron_b
    Hey Connor! Thank you for the kind words! I just started setting up the simulators recently and I've had so much fun learning all the techniques required to maximize the simulator's potential! Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks I can really master these skills.
    herron_b
    Good Morning Karthik! The most interesting thing I discovered in my readings is that medical simulators were actually inspired by flight simulators! I also thought it was interesting how the first-ever medical simulator had some advanced features not present in modern simulators today!
    herron_b
    Hey Vera! The skill I'm most excited to learn about is functioning the high-fidelity patients for sure! I think it's amazing that I can control any function of a patient from something as simple as blood pressure to something as difficult as the kind of dysrhythmia a patient has!
    herron_b
    Lucas! My favorite part of the lab so far has been the surgery skills room! I really enjoyed the FLS trainer system because it felt like I was really doing laparoscopic surgery! I could spend all day in that room for sure!

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