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What would a high school student do if a classmate or a teacher collapsed during class? Or suffered an asthma attack? Or complained of chest pain?
Members of the Brookline High School Career Program are now more able to respond, thanks to a course at the Neil and Elise Wallace STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation. Through the Harvard Medical School Bioscience Program for High School Students (BPHS), students from Brookline and other nearby high schools learn about science and how it applies to real-life scenarios through simulation training.
“Our goal with this program is to lay the foundation for these students to pursue a career in the sciences, whether it’s medicine, engineering or research,” said Julie Joyal Mowschenson RN, EdM, program director.
Once a week, students take a break from classroom didactics and their studies of basic anatomy and physiology for hands-on learning in the sciences. Half of the students visit the HMS Gilbert Simulation Center to review a case with Nancy Oriol, MD, dean for Students, and Mowschenson. The other half of the students participate in a simulation exercise at STRATUS led by Simulation Fellow Nicole Kissane, MD.
“I really enjoy working with the students because they are so excited to experience these realistic scenarios,” said Kissane.
During a recent session, students were presented with a mock scenario where a team coach has a myocardial infarction and suffers a cardiac arrest. With a general understanding of how the cardiovascular system works and the importance of delivering oxygen to the brain, students quickly assessed the situation. While one student called for help, another initiated CPR. After the patient was resuscitated, he was transferred to the simulated catheterization laboratory for an angioplasty.
The students completed this scenario with Simantha®, the same multi-dimensional endovascular simulator in STRATUS that expert clinicians use for practicing a variety of neurovascular, coronary and peripheral vascular procedures as if they were in an actual catheterization suite. BWH is one of two hospitals in the world to own this sophisticated technology.