UPMC’s WISER Simulation Center Celebrates 25 Years of Service!
In 2019, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)’s Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education, and Research (WISER) Center celebrates its 25th year of improving healthcare through innovative education! A medical simulation pioneer for a quarter of a century, WISER is an internationally renowned simulation center that focuses on healthcare education, improving patient safety, and the professional development of simulation educators and technicians around the world. Gain from their 25 years of experience by enrolling in one of their many powerful simulation training courses this year, from iSIM debriefing to Sim Tech training, Simulation Administration and Center Design — read more and check dates below for 2019!
Supporting both the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Health Sciences and UPMC, WISER operates out of a 20,000 square-foot facility in Oakland, PA. In addition, WISER has 8 UPMC satellite centers throughout Western PA, and will be adding additional satellites in the coming years. WISER is fully accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, staffed by Certified Simulation Operation Specialists, and is endorsed by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
While they value their reputation and brand, they will not allow themselves to remain idle – as they have much to celebrate during their Silver Anniversary year but are even more excited to look to the future to find ways to remain simulation pioneers. While WISER’s team continues to add satellite locations, it is their mission to improve and expand their main simulation centre. Additionally, they remain up-to-date in the latest technological and educational developments in healthcare simulation.
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WISER currently supports 60,000+ hours of simulation, over 2,000 classes, which impacts 5,000 healthcare professionals and trainees each year. Below, WISER Director of Administration Adam Kukic interviews WISER Director Dr. Paul Phrampus about 25 Years of Healthcare Simulation Service:
The true numbers of patients positively impacted by WISER may never be known, but even one life saved through this amazing clinical simulation center makes the work that they do worth it. They very much look forward to sharing more of their stories with the HealthySimulation.com audience throughout our 25th anniversary year; and also welcome you to share your WISER memories and stories with them on Facebook or Twitter.
Dr. Phrampus recently received the EMS Today’s 2019 John P. Pryor, MD Street Medicine Society Award. John P. Pryor, MD, was an EMS physician who was killed while serving in Iraq. Dr. Pryor posthumously received the first award in his name at the 2009 EMS Today conference. Each year, the Street Medicine Society, an informal forum of physicians who got their start as EMS professionals, awards a physician who has come up through the ranks with this award bearing Dr. Pryor’s name. Paul has created simulation-based education for paramedic programs as well as an airway training program for paramedics and simulation-based competency assessment training programs for helicopter flight crews. Paul has been director of the Peter M Winter Institute for Simulation, served as a program chair for the International Meeting for Simulation Healthcare, and was a past president of the Society for Simulation Healthcare. He has also served as a past board member and annual meeting chair of the National Association of EMS Physicians, authored more than 20 publications directly related to EMS and prehospital care, and mentored many others involved in research associated with prehospital care. Dr. Phrampus has contributed to JEMS regularly for more than 35 years.
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WISER Hosts iSIM Facilitation & Debriefing Courses in 2019
Those looking to improve their healthcare simulation instructional skills should strongly consider in-person training activities, as the nuances of debriefing and instructional design in the field are extremely unique. Designed and facilitated by internationally renowned experts in simulation and faculty development, the training courses available from WISER at the University of Pittsburgh and The Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education at the University of Miami called iSIM, or Improving Simulation Instructional Methods, will prepare healthcare educators to enhance their skills using best practices in simulation-based education methods. Hurry, these courses fill up fas with dates at WISER in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, three times next year (July 29th – 31st, October 9th – 11th). Read more about the iSim Courses here.
The iSIM program is intended for healthcare professionals and educators who are interested in improving their instructional skills. An intense focus on scenario design, debriefing skills, and assessment tool design and implementation set the stage for success.
WISER Hosts Additional 2019 Courses on Key Topics to Simulation Operations
- Designing or Enhancing Your Simulation Center: This one day course is designed to assist those individuals or centers who are interested in designing new or updating existing simulation centers. This is an 8 topic course that will guide the participants, step by step, through the process of identifying their training needs and designing a world class simulation center to meet those needs. Course Fee: $695 (Dates April 4, August 13, November 14).
- Introduction to WISER and Course Overview
- Identifying Your Center’s Training Missions
- Blueprints to Build Out, Designing Your Center
- Identifying your Center’s Audio and Video Needs
- Administrative Considerations
- Job Descriptions
- Creating Environments
- Additional Tips for Success
- Simulation Operations Specialist Training Program, Onsite: This 1.5 day interactive training program is designed to educate simulation operations specialists (SOS) on the key tasks associated with the daily operations and maintenance of a simulation center. This course builds upon asynchronous online content to provide a more detailed and in depth exploration of the many roles of the SOS. Some of the covered topics include: Roles and Responsibilities of Simulation Operations Specialist, Supply and Inventory Management, AV and IT Considerations and Troubleshooting, Course Preparation, Scenario Creation, and much, much more! Cost: $495 (Dates June 11/12, September 26/27, December 10/11)
- How to Run a Successful Simulation Center: Participants of this two day program will learn best practices associated with the operations of a simulation center. Key operational, administrative, and technological elements of a successful simulation center will be reviewed. Topics such as creating budgets, staff considerations, daily operations, course development, and simulator programming will be discussed. Interactive exercises will allow participants to practice what they learned during course sessions. (Dates: March 27/28, August 22/23, November 6/7)
- And More Courses are Available on the website!
Visit the WISER Simulation Website to Learn More!
Lance Baily, BA, EMT-B, is the Founder & CEO of HealthySimulation.com, which he started while serving as the Director of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas back in 2010. Lance is also the Founder and acting Advisor to the Board of SimGHOSTS.org, the world’s only non-profit organization dedicated to supporting professionals operating healthcare simulation technologies. His co-edited Book: “Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Operations, Technology, and Innovative Practice” is cited as a key source for professional certification in the industry. Lance’s background also includes serving as a Simulation Technology Specialist for the LA Community College District, EMS fire fighting, Hollywood movie production, rescue diving, and global travel. He and his wife Abigail Baily, PhD live in Las Vegas, Nevada with their two amazing daughters.
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