 | A BREATH OF AIR: Professor Clinton Chichester (l) demonstrates new patient simulator. Observing (from left) are: Tim Gorham, Keith Lang and Executive Director David King of The Champlin Foundations, and URI Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs M. Beverly Swan watch the process.
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Patient simulator provides hands-on experienceA 61-year-old-truck driver lies on a stretcher complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath. His medical history includes coronary artery disease, anxiety, hypertension, high blood pressure and an allergy to penicillin. He is overweight and he smokes. His medical situation is now in the hands of University of Rhode Island pharmacy students.
The truck driver is a computer-activated mannequin that acts and reacts much like a human patient. Known as the patient simulator, it breathes, has a heartbeat and responds to drugs. The patient simulator can be killed and can also be changed from an overweight truck driver to a pregnant woman.
“Professors can use the simulator to illustrate many different situations. Students can insert a trachea tube or inject a needle into the simulator’s chest for different medical problems,” said Biomedical Sciences Professor Robert L. Rodgers at the College of Pharmacy. “As professors, we can give the patient a heart attack, put him into shock, give him asthma or put him on a respirator.”
URI received the patient simulator thanks to a grant from The Champlin Foundations. The $120,000 grant, called the Pharmacy Technology Initiative, was proposed by URI Biomedical Sciences Professors Clinton O. Chichester and Rodgers. The Champlin Foundations awarded $434,503 in grants to URI last year to fund four different projects including the patient simulator.
The patient simulator is being used by pharmacy, physical therapy, exercise science and basic physiology students. Chichester and Rodgers also hope to involve nursing and biomedical engineering students.
“The students will administer drugs, calculate dosage, recognize health risks and perform small procedures,” said Chichester. “This simulator is great for students in the medical fields.”
“There aren’t many schools in the country with the patient simulator. In fact, URI is one of the first pharmacy schools in the country to have it,” said Rodgers.
By Sarah Emmett
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