The television term "medical drama" and the medical term "operating theater" have new meaning when used by students and instructors at the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center. HGA Architects and Engineers combined its expertise in performing art design and healthcare planning to collaboratively design the state-of-the-art, 10,000-square-foot educational facility, which includes teaching environments where medical students training in a range of disciplines can master skills during simulated, supervised events.

Learning Environments - The simulation-based medical education Center provides accelerated learning rates by placing students in imitation patient-care settings. In these settings, students practice a curriculum of diagnostic and surgical techniques using the appropriate equipment and technology, often on life-size, physiologically responsive mannequins operated by an instructor in an adjacent control room. In addition, professional actors portray patients and family members during simulated sessions in which students practice bedside manner, crisis intervention or management, emergency-care delivery, or communication of a patient diagnosis. These situations, conducted in real-life, real-time settings, help students perfect skills without patient risk.

Meeting Medical Needs - Medical schools often have basic objectives for a simulation center that include inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings representing a spectrum of healthcare disciplines, as well as accident and crisis sites. HGA has expertise designing medical facilities and laboratories, as well as experience designing theaters and performing arts spaces. Just as in the design of actual medical facilities or theater, the design of simulation training centers requires astute planning to ensure the space is functional and equipment is accessible.

Reflecting Reality - Unlike actual medical settings, the design of the simulated environments can be suggestive, up to a point. The simulated environment doesn't need to be an exact replica of the real thing. It only needs enough reality that students and staff can "suspend their disbelief." Our design and technical team set out to create a situation in which people could feel like they're really in the heat of the moment. That's where our theater expertise came in — designing spaces that enable the simulated drama to unfold.

Kit of Parts - Simulation Centers reflect real hospital settings with key features: Lobby, Simulation Rooms, Patient Rooms, Control rooms, Observation/Debriefing Rooms and Audio-visual Technology.

The presentation will include:

Innovative Ideas:
a. Combining expertise in performing arts design and healthcare planning to create state-of-the-art educational facilities that include teaching environments where medical students master life-saving medical skills during simulated events.

Planning or Management Tools:
a. Assess planning for appropriate levels of reality.
b. Appreciate and refine skills of layout and organization.
c. Consider multi-functionality in Simulation Center design.

Proofs:
a. Client testimony - Bruce Rohde, PE, Project Manager for Mayo Clinic
a. Will share insights about the drivers that shaped this project and the decision-making processes that led to the final outcomes.
b. How the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center transforms clinical medical education by assisting Mayo educators in developing, implementing and evaluating experiential curricula for learners that advance patient care.

Audience Benefits:
a. How educational facilities can provide experiences in which students can work with actual patients and respond to accurately simulated situations. Partnering and planning to eliminate true patient risk while providing an effective education for today and tomorrow's medical leaders.