About the Simulation Center

The Simulation Center at the Johns Hopkins is utilizing exciting and innovative methods to enable the medical institution to further achieve the tripartite mission of patient care, teaching, and research.

Through annual competencies, continued education, and new product education, the Simulation Center helps to improve safety within patient care. The patient care mission strives to familiarize staff thoroughly with procedures and technologies before having to apply them to patients with current and new equipment and technologies.  While performing a procedure, the practitioner must display the necessary skills that inspire confidence and trust by the patient.

The educational mission seeks to teach students and trainees better diagnostic and communication skills using video assessments.  The Center will also allow nursing, respiratory therapy, medical students and house-staff to learn and practice procedures “on plastic” before performing procedures on patients, ideally enhancing both the educational experience AND patient safety. In addition to skill enhancement, the Center also serves the purpose of assessments and offers certification or credentialing required by various regulatory bodies.

The Simulation Center contributes to the Johns Hopkins research mission in several manners. Research is being conducted to identify more advanced and effective educational methods. In addition, Hopkins’ research teams are involved in exciting research using simulation as a diagnostic tool to understand the root causes of errors in team settings. 

Within each of these areas the Simulation Center will promote Patient Safety through the use of Simulation.  The Simulation Center incorporates all five types of simulation including standardized patients, human patient simulation, virtual reality, partial task trainers, and computerized simulation. 

Standardized patient simulation involves the use of individuals trained to play the roles of patients, family members, or others to allow students to practice physical exam skills, history taking skills, communication skills, and other exercises. 

Human patient simulation uses high fidelity simulators (mannequins that breathe, have breath sounds and heart tones, palpable pulses, and a monitor that can display EKG, pulse ox, BP, arterial wave forms, pulmonary artery wave forms, anesthetic gases, etc.). Procedures can be performed on the simulators such as bag-mask ventilation, intubation, defibrillation, chest tube placement, cricothyrotomy and others. 

Virtual reality simulation utilizes advanced computerized technology to allow students to learn or practice how to perform cardiac catheterizations, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, ureteroscopy, laparoscopic surgery, intravenous line placement, and other procedures. 

Partial task trainer simulation involves the use of products to learn or practice a specific skill such as intubation heads, central venous line chests, intraosseous line legs or umbilical artery cannulation trainers. 

Computerized simulation utilizes computer programs that allow the student to practice decision making skills and specific knowledge sets such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) trainers and trauma management trainers.