Need to practice surgery? Flying? Modsim may help

By Kathy Adams

VIRGINIA BEACH

It's like the game Operation, but without the blinking red nose.

New technology employing lifelike manikins and computer simulators is allowing medical students to get hands-on experience without risking real patients. Students can practice surgeries, everyday procedures, medical exams, teamwork and even delivering bad news to a family, said Dr. William Dunn, director of the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center in Rochester, Minn. Dunn spoke Tuesday during the Mod Sim World 2008 conference at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

The Mayo Clinic employs modeling and simulation - the use of physical or virtual models to simulate real-life scenarios under a variety of conditions - to train medical students. H ealth care is just one field embracing the technology.

Modeling and simulation helps NASA train pilots, the military plan wartime strategy, Disney build rides and departments of transportation lay out roads. Shipbuilders, railroads, schools and city planners use it, too.

The second annual Mod Sim World conference this week is bringing together nearly 700 people from these fields to share information. The conference continues through Thursday with exhibits, speakers and workshops on topics from health and medicine to defense and homeland security.

"Reality's too fast or too slow, too big or too small, too safe or too dangerous," said Robert Sharak, the conference's director of sponsors and exhibits.

But models can simulate reality without the risk and facilitate decision-making, said Paul Fosdick, program chair for the conference and Northrop Grumman's technical director for modeling and simulation in Hampton Roads.

"We're trying to create a model of the real world so that we're able to explore with it, train with the technology, without introducing a large amount of resources," Fosdick said.

With more than 100 local companies specializing in modeling and simulation, the industry brings more than $360 million each year to Hampton Roads, said Mike McGinnis, executive director of Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center. Both ODU and Tidewater Community College offer specialized modeling and simulation programs.

The industry's growing, as more businesses and government agencies use the technology to answer questions such as: How will my supply chain work? What happens if an anthrax attack hits a major U.S. city?

Modeling and simulation can help decision-makers prepare for multiple scenarios.

It also can save lives, Dunn said. Medical students trained using modeling and simulation tools have better clinical outcomes, less anxiety and improved confidence, resulting in fewer mistakes, he said.

"The tools of simulation can help raise the bar of 100,000 or so preventable medical errors that end in death," Dunn said. "As opposed to all the other methods of passive learning, experience matters."

Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com