Mission Statement

The Johns Hopkins Medicine Simulation Center uses exciting and innovative methods to enable the medical institution to further achieve the tripartite mission: 

Activity in simulation rooms can be monitored, recorded and controlled from our control rooms.

Video Assessments

The educational mission seeks to teach students and trainees better diagnostic and communication skills using video assessments. The center encourages nursing, respiratory therapy, medical students and house-staff to learn and practice procedures “on plastic” before performing procedures on patients, enhancing both the educational experience and patient safety. In addition to skill enhancement, the center also serves the purpose of assessments and offers certification or credentialing required by various regulatory bodies.

Simulation Research

The Simulation Center contributes to the Johns Hopkins research mission by identifying more advanced and effective educational methods. In addition, Hopkins’ research teams are involved in exciting research using simulation as a diagnostic tool to understand the root causes of errors in team settings.

Promoting Patient Safety through Simulations

The Simulation Center will promote patient safety by incorporating five types of simulation including:

1. Standardized patient simulation - This involves the use of individuals trained to play the roles of patients, family members, or others to allow students to practice physical exam skills, history taking skills, communication skills, and other exercises.
2. Human patient simulation – This uses high fidelity simulators, mannequins that breathe with breath sounds, heart tones, and palpable pulses. In addition the mannequin has a monitor that can display EKG, pulse oximeter, blood pressure, arterial wave forms, pulmonary artery wave forms, anesthetic gases, etc. Procedures can be performed on the simulators such as bag-mask ventilation, intubation, defibrillation, chest tube placement, cricothyrotomy and others.
3. Virtual reality simulation – This uses advanced computerized technology to allow students to learn or practice how to perform cardiac catheterizations, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, ureteroscopy, laparoscopic surgery, intravenous line placement, and other procedures.
4. Task trainer simulation – This involves the use of products to learn or practice a specific skill such as intubation heads, central venous line chests, intraosseous line legs or umbilical artery cannulation trainers.
5. Computerized simulation uses computer programs that allow the student to practice decision making skills and specific knowledge sets such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) trainers and trauma management trainers.