Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center Receives Distinction as an ACS-Accredited Education...( ROCHESTER Minn. Sept. 13 -- Mayo...),Health

ROCHESTER, Minn., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mayo Clinic's Multidisciplinary Simulation Center is now one of 11 advanced, comprehensive simulation centers in the United States to be accredited by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Accreditation by the ACS positions Mayo to offer and advance medical education that will improve patient safety by increasing health care team members' abilities to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies.

Mayo's 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art simulation center opened in fall 2005 as a premier teaching center for Mayo's health care professionals. The distinction of accreditation allows the Mayo facility to offer continuing education to visiting physicians, surgeons, emergency room workers and other health care professionals.

Benchmark of Excellence

In its first 12 months of operation, the center hosted 4,053 learners within classes each typically a half-day long. "This high level of programming and usage at startup is unprecedented in any simulation center to my knowledge," says Mayo Simulation Center's medical director, William Dunn, M.D., who also is president-elect of the international Society for Simulation in Healthcare (http://www.ssih.org). "We are deeply honored by the ACS recognition. It tells us we have achieved a benchmark of excellence."

David Farley, M.D., surgeon and vice chair for education in Mayo Clinic's Department of Surgery in Rochester, says, "Health care needs simulation centers of excellence such as ours to support educational vision. We are preparing teams to care for patients not only now--but in the future as well."

Transforming Medical Education

A comprehensive simulation center is among the newest 21st century tools of medical education. It offers health care teams -- physicians, surgeons, nurses, respiratory therapists, emergency room personnel and medical students -- powerful learning opportuniti
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