Congratulations to Cole Dooley, M.D., Christopher Samouce, Ph.D., and Soleil Schutte, M.D., who have received IHAF 2023 Education Awards from the I. Heermann Anesthesia Foundation (IHAF).
The purpose of IHAF is to encourage and support scholarly pursuits designed to enhance the field of anesthesia through clinical research, laboratory research, publication, the teaching of anesthesia, and the ultimate application of such knowledge to the welfare of the patient.
Dr. Cole Dooley, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology
Project Title: Effectiveness of an Escape Room in Teaching Pediatric Life Support Skills to Interns and Residents in Anesthesiology.
Investigators: PI: Cole Dooley, M.D.; Co-Is and mentors: Terrie Vasilopoulos, Ph.D., Brenda Fahy, M.D., MCCM.
Studies suggest significant decay in knowledge as early as four months after completing pediatric advanced life support (PALS) skill training. The concept of gamification, which uses elements such as badges, point and leaderboards, and competition, is an increasingly popular way to effectively deliver medical education in a setting which introduces increasingly challenging and complex problems. Escape rooms are an increasingly popular social activity which, due to their flexibility and opportunities for active experimentation in a no-stakes environment, have been successfully used to deliver medical instruction. This proposal seeks to address the challenges of developing adult learning which is not only engaging, but which improves long-term skill and knowledge retention. This study hypothesizes that an escape room targeting knowledge in PALS for anesthesiology interns and residents will improve the acquisition, performance and retention of PALS skills. The group further hypothesizes that participants will find the escape room interesting, engaging and enjoyable. The study will develop an escape room designed to deliver PALS skill instruction through a combination of puzzles and skill challenges. Learners will provide feedback to gauge enjoyment and engagement, and will complete follow-up activities to assess immediate skill acquisition as well as skill retention after four months.
Christopher Samouce, Ph.D., Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies
Project Title: Hand-Tracking for Coaching Peripheral IV Technique in a Simulator.
Investigators: PI: Christopher Samouce, Ph.D.; Mentor: Samsun Lampotang, Ph.D.; Clinical Consultant: Adrian Ching, M.D.; Clinical Statistics Consultant: Yahya Acar, M.D.
Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIV) placement is the most common invasive procedure in the world, performed over 150 million times a year in the United States by providers of varied disciplines and levels of training. Advanced procedural simulators, such as those developed at the Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT) do not currently track the primary tools of the clinician: their hands and fingers. Integrating hand-tracking in these simulators will enable real-time assessment and coaching of technique and dexterity during simulator-based training. This project will develop a hand-tracking system to apply in an existing ultrasound-guided PIV placement simulator and conduct a validation study. Once hand-tracking and a virtual coach have been integrated into the existing PIV simulator, participants will engage in a series of trainings to compare PIV placement skill acquisition with and without virtual coaching. The hypothesis is that training using the hand-tracked virtual coaching will result in an improvement of the participants’ PIV catheter placement procedural skill. The goal is to expand the capabilities of advanced procedural simulators to enhance learning outcomes and to increase their utility in providing expanded theatres and audience for mastery-based training.
Soleil Schutte, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology
Project Title: A Curriculum for Teaching and Learning Spinal Anesthesia Using a Mixed Reality Simulator.
Investigators: PI: Soleil Schutte, M.D.; Co-investigator: Svetlana Chembrovich, M.D.; Scientist: Christopher Samouce, Ph.D.; Mentors: Barys Ihnatsenka, M.D., Samsun Lampotang, Ph.D.
Learning and teaching spinal anesthesia is mostly reliant on practice-based technique by using patients for demonstration and training. This can be stressful for both teachers and learners, with patients at risk for complications, and even experienced anesthesiologists struggle when facing patients with challenging anatomies. The project will develop and integrate a curriculum to facilitate “deliberate practice” of the technical skills of spinal anesthesia into an existing challenging spinal simulator. This curriculum will provide support to both instructors and learners through a series of lessons and exercises designed to provide real-time feedback. Participants in the trainings and exercises will undergo assessments that include a written test and a practical test on a second simulator test block. The second test block will evaluate the acquisition of skill development from the curriculum. Studies will be conducted to compare learning on the simulator with and without the curriculum. The group hypothesizes that this curriculum will help novices learn spinal anesthesia as well as help teachers efficiently teach the technique.