ACOM Students Compete in National Patient Simulation Event, Reach Semifinals

Matt Boster

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Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: May 19 2015 12:19 PM

DOTHAN – A team of five students from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM) recently competed in the national Simlympics at the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) convention in Washington, D.C. The team was among eight medical schools in the competition and the only osteopathic college to compete.

 

Simlympics is a national event created in 2012 by students from East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine. Each team is presented with an emergent clinical scenario, which requires medical knowledge, clinical skills, team work, critical thinking and communication.

 

“Simlympics is a great way to get hands-on experience in a lower stress environment than an actual hospital,” said Ankita Mahajan, a second-year student and team coordinator. “It helps so much to be able to apply what we are learning in the classroom in a more realistic situation.”

 

During this year’s event, the eight schools competed against each other in a single elimination competition. Simulations took place in an auditorium with a live audience. Each team was presented a case in a simulated setting with a SimMan® 3G, and had 10 minutes to evaluate, discuss, treat and present findings to a panel of judges from other schools, medical programs and residences.

 

This was ACOM’s first year in the competition, and the team made it to the semifinals losing to Baylor College of Medicine, the winner of last year’s event and international competition.

 

“I am extremely proud of our students who willingly took on this task and competition to expose themselves to emergency conditions and perform in front of judges and hundreds of visitors,” said John Giannini, MD, associate professor of internal medicine and faculty director of simulation at ACOM. “We practiced scenarios for several weeks not really knowing what to expect. We are incredibly proud.”

 

As for the future, ACOM’s chapter of AMSA is already looking ahead to next year’s competition and is creating a Simlympics committee to prepare for the event.

 

Garrett Harrison, a second-year student and team leader, believes that simulation competition can play an important role in a medical student’s training. “I believe many students learn from hands-on experience and being under pressure to perform,” he said. “I have a belief that incorporating this fun and competitive approach early on in one’s medical education or curriculum will position them higher on the learning curve going into their third and fourth years of medical school.”

 

For more information about ACOM’s AMSA chapter visit www.acomedu.org/amsa.

 

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