Tampa General Hospital’s academic partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is supported by extensive simulation programming delivered through the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation. Established in 2012, the center is led by Yasuharu Okuda, MD, who is credited with writing the definitive textbook for the oral board examination in emergency medicine and with building simulation centers for the New York Public Health Center and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs in Washington, D.C. The center hosts more than 30,000 clinicians and learners annually, providing evidence-based simulation training that includes neonatal resuscitation, newborn care, skin preparation, Foley catheter insertion and removal, Covid-19 response and code blue protocols. The program trains more than 100 incoming medical residents each year in central line placement to ensure interns are proficient in core procedural skills. Specialty-based simulation spans emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynecology, ear, nose and throat, pediatrics, plastic surgery, rehabilitation, pulmonary, surgery and vascular, including cadaver labs, microsurgery training and advanced trauma operative management. The center also offers extended reality research and implementation, including simulations for team communication in hospital settings and a developing scenario requiring learners to identify and triage sick patients on a train platform. A two-year National Institutes of Health phase 2 “Small Business Innovation Research Award” supports a collaborative study between the center and Immertec, with expected funds of $1.6 million to evaluate immersive technology for specialized training of rural healthcare professionals, complemented by the acquisition of advanced manikins capable of breathing, blinking, generating vital signs, and integrating with virtual and augmented reality. Through “CAMLS Without Walls,” the program deploys an advanced mobile simulation unit using a decommissioned ambulance to deliver high-tech training within up to a 300-mile radius, including maternal and neonatal outcomes training in partnership with the Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services.
