Virtual Simulation Takes Students "Out of the Textbook and Into the Clinic"

Those wondering how a simulation hosted over Zoom could live up to expectations have never attended a workshop organized by RVU’s Office of Simulation in Medicine and Surgery (SIMS). In mid-September, the Office of SIMS designed one of its first virtual simulations of the semester, live-streaming to students on both campuses from the newly renovated Healthcare Simulation Center in Colorado.

Through the power of storytelling and well-placed manikins and video equipment, Seth Peacock, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, brought to life a small-town hospital with several urgent care cases, including patients experiencing atherosclerosis and shock. The students observed as Dr. Peacock asked a patient for their medical history. "Just sitting with a patient helps you connect with them," Dr. Peacock said as the students looked on.

Then Dr. Peacock suddenly demonstrated how a small hospital can be at a disadvantage in terms of severe trauma cases: a gunman (simulated by Dr. Peacock and an airsoft gun) shot at the first patient, turning the urgent care visit into an emergency case. Students now had to develop treatment options for a patient suffering from several gunshot wounds, while keeping the patient’s medical history in mind and in a hospital with limited resources. The virtual workshop not only simulated how a patient can go into shock and how a healthcare team must work together under changing circumstances, but it also showed the challenges that rural hospitals and clinics can face with certain trauma cases. As Dr. Peacock said to the students before the start of the simulation: "My goal is to get you out of the textbook and into the clinic." He most certainly accomplished that.