Simulation and integrative learning @ UIc Spring 2024

Greetings to all,

As we navigate through the blossoming year of 2024, we trust that you are enjoying a season of abundance and well-being. At the Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute (SAIL), our voyage is steadfast. Anchored by our commitment to simulation innovation, we champion health equity, ethics, and justice. Our mission sails beyond, promoting compassion, patient-centered care, and self-care, while engaging in robust partnerships with all stakeholders, including our valued community.

The SAIL Team cast a notable presence at the recent International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) in the radiant environs of San Diego, California but which turned out to feature the greatest single day rainfall in the history of the city. With a series of accepted presentations and panels, our team has reaffirmed SAIL's status as a beacon in the simulation community.

We are thrilled to announce that the poignant "First Death Program" at SAIL will be the subject of an upcoming radio documentary. This reflective piece, under the expert guidance of acclaimed documentarian Andrew Meriwether, will delve into the art of communication that physicians hone to connect authentically with patients, even in their most challenging moments. Featuring insights from SAIL's own staff, SPs, instructors, and College of Medicine learners, the documentary promises a profound exploration of human connection, performance, authenticity, and the preparedness for the unpredictable.

As we celebrate these milestones, we also want to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary talents and contributions of the entire SAIL team. It is their dedication, adaptability, and creativity that are the wind in our sails, propelling us forward. We tip our hats to their remarkable efforts and extend a heartfelt "Thank you!"

Wishing everyone a safe and bountiful spring,

Christine and Bob

Human-Based Simulation (HBS)

In the words of the dearly departed Olivia Newton-John, Let’s Get Physical! That’s right, the Core exam is dominating the 4th floor (and beyond) right now with practice labs, PE workshops, and Mock Core exams. Thank you to all the PIs for their excellent work, and to Raina and Alba for coordinating. HBS continues to run the GCE for third year med students and all of the 3rd year clerkship exams as well. Be on the lookout for a refresher training for those exams, SPs!

A few SPs got ready for their close up and helped us make brief videos for a new project we’re calling Mock Rounds. This project is designed to give rising third year students the opportunity to practice presenting patient notes in front of an attending before they jump into their brand new clerkships.

SAIL participated in a Trauma Informed Care presentation for second year students. This plenary session may be developed into an SP encounter for the next academic year.

Other projects this spring include: GME Peds Rehearsal for Authenticity case, Cardiology SP Encounter, Occupational Therapy SP encounter, M4 Medical Spanish Elective, AAP Mental Health Course Scenario, GME OBGYN Rehearsal for Authenticity case, M1 Abdominal Workshop.

SAIL will be holding SP auditions at the end of the month. Thank you for all your referrals!

Technology-Based SIMULATION (TBS)

Farewell, long dreary winter. Welcome, slightly warmer spring. Hopefully it’s safe to say that the snow is behind us. Technology-Based Simulation (TBS) continues to have a busy semester and has no time for additional snow days. Be gone, snow!

Back in January, we wrapped up the new hire instructor training and trained a handful of SPs to help us with upcoming projects.

In February, we hosted the M4 Transition to Residency Sim Code program, marking our heartfelt farewell to the graduating class of 2024. They were an exceptional class and we wish them well in all their future endeavors.

By April, we concluded the M2 Synthesis program, hosted yet another triumphant Emergency Medicine Regional Assessment (aka Simtastic), and closed out this academic year’s last UIH Resuscitation Workshop. Particularly noteworthy, this was the first time the resuscitation faculty and SAIL partnered with palliative care health professionals to explore topics of palliative and end-of-life care. Shout out to Rich Lazatin for his debut TBS role in this pilot case. The pilot and the post-encounter debrief went so well, faculty is eager to turn this case into a full-fledged SP encounter later this year.

It's evident that SAIL’s dedication to excellent simulation-based education has led to remarkable successes and strong partnerships. Long standing clients like GME Emergency Medicine (EM) and Pediatrics have continued to book simulation projects with SAIL. EM holds Conference at SAIL almost every Thursday morning and monthly ultrasound training, and GME Pediatrics has scheduled additional training sessions for their residents. Outside client, Almost Home Kids, has also added quarterly training for their staff. Additionally, our collaboration with IMED faculty and students wraps up its second year. We look forward to seeing their final projects in April.

Other recurring projects include: M3 Pediatric and Surgery Clerkships, M4 Anesthesiology and Emergency Medicine Clerkships, UIC Global Health, and GME IM Procedural Skills Training.

Finally, TBS is gearing up for the M3 Transition to Clerkship (TTC) series: First Death, PPE, and Procedural Skills. This year, the Human-Based Simulation team is joining the fun by running the Mock Rounds during TTC. If you happen to be around April 12th, 15th, 16th, or 19th, be sure to swing by the 5th floor for the chance to decompress with a therapy dog! For the second year, SAIL is proud to share that we’ve partnered with Pet Partners for the First Death project. This is by far the best partnership SAIL has ever had!

Other projects later this spring/summer include: M1 Synthesis, M3 Intersections, Resident Skills Assessments, and other resident onboarding and training.

TBS appreciates the long hours and hard work the simulation technicians, skills instructors, and SPs put in. We’ve said it before and will say it again, SAIL would not be the successful enterprise it is without each and everyone one of you all.

Thank you!

Dear Christine and Bob;

I want to thank you both again for hosting the MHPP students at the SAIL Center last Saturday. Everyone had an amazing time!

I just had the debrief meeting with my Graduate students and they all had only positive things to say. Everyone felt that each activity was well planned out and engaging for the grade school students.

The Intro lecture was very well done, and it was great that you had interactive questions with the students. The baby encounter and visiting the control room were both a big hit. The students had never experienced working with a mannequin like that before. The opportunity to interview the standardized patients was also a novel experience, and the first time many of them had ever interviewed anyone ever. Donning the PPE and the Treasure Hunt were also a home run.

The only feedback the Graduate students had was that it was too bad you couldn’t take all 83 MHPP students!

I personally went around the room at lunch time and asked each student what part they enjoyed most. It honestly was almost a 3-way tie, with the baby experience maybe winning by one vote.

Again, I want to express my gratitude for you allowing my students to visit. Please thank all your staff that were willing to come in on a Saturday and spend time with us. The goal of the MHPP program is to inspire “The Future Healthcare Leaders of Tomorrow.” Experiences like this will help make that dream a reality.

Best Regards,

D. Goldfarb, MD FAAEM

And it’s official! Please welcome Brook and Brigitte to the team!

Brigitte Ditmars (she/her) brings her extensive training and theatrical experience to the SAIL team as a Human Based Simulation Program Coordinator. With a diverse professional background, she has excelled as a corporate trainer across various industries including hospitality, legal publishing, real estate, and most recently as a training specialist a large healthcare system, focusing on medical group specialty and outpatient hospital scheduling.

She dedicated seven years to serving as a Senior Standardized Patient for the USMLE Step-2 Clinical Skills exam. In this role, she portrayed numerous cases and evaluated communication skills within a high-stakes environment. Additionally, she played a role in piloting new cases and delivered peer to peer workshops, most notably in memorizations techniques and feedback delivery.

Brigitte is also a Chicago storefront theatre veteran, having been an actor, director and award-winning choreographer. Some of her favorite sandboxes to play in have been at the Mercury Theatre, Firebrand, Porchlight Music Theatre, Bailiwick Theatre Company, Hell in a Handbag, Factory Theatre, Circle Theatre, American Theatre Company and many more.

Things that make Brigitte a person:

• She’s originally from Louisville, KY but has called Chicago home longer than any other city
• She has a cat named Sadie she adopted during the pandemic.
• She is a thrift store junkie.
• She’s really into kettlebell ballistics.
• She loves to cook and in fact, had 4 callbacks for the first season of MasterChef before ultimately getting cut. She has been known to run cooking classes out of her home to teach novices the basics. In another life, she would be a host of a cooking show.

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Brook Celeste (she/they) has been in the medical simulation field for eight years working in medical schools around Chicago, as a Standardized Patient, Simulated Patient, Practical Instructor, Skills Instructor, and Gynecological Teaching Associate. Brook is dedicated to the practices of empathy and self-awareness. She believes that SAIL’s focus on these skills supports learners in becoming practitioners adept at listening deeply and taking seriously their own experiences and the experiences of all those around them. Brook is also a writer and performer who lives with their good/bad orange cat named Henry in the beautiful neighborhood of Rogers Park.

Let's keep looking forward toward the horizon for bright skies and steady waters!