WVU residents gain additional access to simulated heart trainings
If you’re looking for West Virginia University Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery residents between surgeries, odds are you’ll find them fine tuning their craft through hands-on practice. And access to a new, department-specific simulated training center in the Heart and Vascular Institute at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, allows them easier access to do just that.
Steps away for the residents’ workstations, you’ll find the new CT Simulate Training room -- a department-specific SIM center to work in conjunction with the University’s existing STEPS facility.
“Cardiac surgery is difficult to teach in the operating room, because when you’re working on a patient, time truly is of the essence and mistakes made under pressure have consequences,” Chris Cook, M.D., associate professor of surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, said.
The ability to train and practice at one’s own pace and schedule is invaluable, according to Robert Herron, D.O., WVU cardiac and thoracic surgery resident. Herron, a former college athlete likens it to training for a sport.
“As an athlete you condition yourself – pushing yourself to beat your best time, to rely on instinct, and to be in the best condition you can for the game. Simulation training has the same effect,” Dr. Herron said. “Having a facility where I can view a situation in the operating room, and then walk downstairs and recreate the situation to practice and improve my best time helps me shave crucial seconds off in the operating room.”
The access to the high volume and varied casework is part of what drew Herron to WVU for his residency. The ability to have around the clock access to a simulation center also allows him to log more hours repairing, suturing and fine-tuning his surgical skills.
“As surgeons, we don’t know what each case will bring, but a simulated training allows us to create scenarios in a controlled environment to help prepare us when the time comes in the operating room,” Herron said.
It’s a benefit that Dr. Cook, who also oversees the department’s residency program, said ultimately helps residents gain not just the technical practice, but the ability to rely on their instincts.
“Simulation training allows us to remove the consequences, and allows the resident to keep work through a situation where they might make a mistake. If that were to happen in an operating room, a more seasoned doctor would immediately step in, but in a simulated training the residents can see how to correct any mistakes – or how to avoid those to begin with,” he said.
Simulated trainings have long been a part of the WVU curriculum. Recently, Cook has looked for more ways to improve access and offerings at the department level, including developing a new heart box training device.
Typically, heart box training involves using a pig heart that is close and size and structure to a human heart, and a disposable box that mimics a chest cavity. The boxes are usually a cardboard and aren’t very durable. In an effort to find a more stable platform to serve as the chest cavity, Cook paired with a Pineville, West Virginia welder to develop a durable, aluminum box that’s built to specification to mimic the approximate chest cavity size, depth and surgical opening. And, keeping with the local theme, he’s partnered with a farm in Preston County to obtain the pig hearts.
“The boxes provide a sturdier, reusable surface for our residents to train with,” he said. “Ultimately, the more ‘lifelike’ we can make a situation, the better the ability to correlate that training to what’s seen in the operating room.”
For more information on Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at WVU, visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/cardiovascular-and-thoracic-surgery.