It is well established that medical professionals at all levels need practice to maintain competency of critical skills and to learn new skills. The Clinical Skills and Simulation Center will continue to provide a flexible learning environment for students/learners to practice procedural, communication, and clinical skills in a safe environment. The use of simulation-based exercises reduces the number of medical errors and improves the quality of patient care. Local hospitals in the area, including Westchester Medical Center, have begun to develop programs with the Center to train interns and house staff to better handle difficult medical situations and to promote strong communication in a team environment. Through the use of both computer based and human simulation, training sessions include, but are not limited to complex resuscitations, shift hand off scenarios, breaking bad news, disclosure of medical errors, obtained informed consent, and pre- and post-op evaluations
Additionally, many facets of simulation can also assist community medical professionals in better promoting gold standard practices and procedures by assessing all staff who comes in contact with a patient, including front desk and billing personnel. The Center also has the capability to create professional medical training videos for a variety of topics such as handing pain management, ensuring patient safety in local hospitals, and promoting strong interpersonal communication skills in a variety of situations.