TATRC Hosts International Sessions on Medical Simulation and Clinical Skills at the “Medicine Meets Virtual Reality” (MMVR) Conference

At the 18th Annual MMVR (“Medicine Meets Virtual Reality”) Conference held in Newport Beach, Calif., in February 2011, more than 450 participants from 20 countries presented and assessed groundbreaking developments in simulation, modeling, imaging, robotics and other emerging tools for patient care and medical education. 

Representatives from government, the military, academia and industry gathered in this conference to explore topics such as: plasma (ionized gas) medicine for wound care and pathogen control; the DoD’s initiative to develop a standardized tri-service medical simulation training platform; virtual reality in clinical and research psychology; and haptics (feedback through the sense of touch). 

This year, TATRC hosted two pre-conference sessions on medical simulation and clinical skills:

AFSIM Industry Day

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, TATRC highlighted the new Armed Forces Simulation Institute for Medicine (AFSIM) in a day designed to share military healthcare needs with developers and potential users of simulation-based training systems. TATRC facilitated the AFSIM Industry Day on behalf of a DoD committee that oversees medical simulation research funding.

The founding of AFSIM stems from an infusion of DoD Health Affairs research fundingin fiscal year 2010. As a result of this Defense Health Program funding, administered through USAMRMC, several tri-service Joint Program Committees (JPC) were established. One such committee is JPC1a, Medical Simulation.

The JPC1a-MedSim research and development efforts are guided by a steering committee of leaders and end users from the Army, Navy and Air Force. USAMRMC has charged TATRC with executing the research approved by the steering committee.   At the Industry Day, AFSIM director and chair of the JPC1a-MedSim Steering Committee MAJ Thomas B.Talbot, MD, introduced the institute and its four major initiatives.

More information on the Armed Forces Simulation Institute for Medicine initiatives is available at http://www.tatrc.org/conferences/MMVR_AFSIM_2011/welcome.html

TATRC Continuing Clinical Competency Symposium

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, TATRC hosted a clinical education symposium to focus on the role of simulation in surgical training, skills maintenance, competence assessment and certification. The event was cochaired by Kevin Kunkler, MD, senior clinician and subject matter expert for TATRC’s Medical Simulation and Training Technology Portfolio, and Thomas Knuth, MD, TATRC Trauma Portfolio manager.

Through a series of four panel discussions and open question sessions, symposium participants explored issues in skills deterioration and pre-leave/pre-deployment preparations. The panels of experts in education, training and simulation comprised leaders from professional societies and military and civilian medical research institutes and hospitals.

More information on the Continuing Clinical Competency Symposium is available at http://www.tatrc.org/conferences/MMVR_2011/welcome.html