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Thursday, January 22, 2009

University of Nevada School of Medicine Students Learn Surgical Skills Through Sophisticated Video Games

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS LEARN SURGICAL SKILLS THROUGH HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED VIDEO GAMES

University of Nevada School of Medicine students and surgical residents are honing their skills outside of the operating room and inside the Virtual Skills Laboratory at University Medical Center.
This gives surgical residents the opportunity to perfect their skills prior to going into the operating room, ensuring surgical residents are expertly trained before they ever perform their first human operation. This translates into a safer quality of care for patients.
The Virtual Skills Laboratory is full of simulators, much like Nintendo Wii video games, that offer students a safe yet realistic learning environment. The simulators are highly sophisticated and developed by engineers to be like flight simulators, only in this case, depicting what happens in an actual surgery.
Students are able to perform operations like colonoscopies, gallbladder surgeries, and hernia procedures, all with the look and even feel of a real-life surgery.
The Virtual Skills Lab features various technical “games” that mimic operative techniques. The computer-generated simulations allow interaction with realistic tissues through sophisticated graphics.
“The virtual reality simulators harness a technology called haptics which allows the user to feel the tissues as they manipulate them with virtual instruments,” says Dr. Shawn Tsuda, Director of the Virtual Skills Laboratory.
To keep the learning lab fun, medical residents also compete to promote excellence. Dr. Tsuda is so skilled at the Virtual Skills Lab, that he won the national Top Gun competition, which is a series of laparoscopic tasks performed for time and accuracy.
UMC has the benefit of having the most sophisticated simulators on the market, and we are on the cutting edge of a trend to practice surgical skills with a high level of proficiency. Studies show that virtual labs increase skill and decrease operating time and complications.
For more information on the Virtual Skills Lab, or to play a round, please call Danita Cohen at 702-383-3987 or email danita.cohen@umcsn.com.

Contact Information:
Danita Cohen
(702) 383-3987
Danita.Cohen@umcsn.com
University Medical Center
1800 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102