The Changing Face of Health Care Education: A New Surgical Simulation Center at Baylor University Medical Center

Abstract

The first of its kind within the Baylor Health Care System, the Seeger Surgical Simulation Center (Figure ​(Figure11), which opened at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (BUMC) in June 2010, has over 1000 square feet of training space with a variety of simulators. Residents and physicians can access the center any time during the week for training or testing. Currently, BUMC has 48 surgical residents within a 5-year program. Resident training focuses on skills specific to each postgraduate level (Table ​(Table11). The curriculum ranges from basic skills during the first year to more advanced skills during the fifth year and includes some element of simulation to enhance the training. Figure 1 Seeger Surgical Simulation Center. Table 1 Resident surgical training curriculum by postgraduate level The Seeger Surgical Simulation Center has applied for accreditation as a Level II Education Institute by the American College of Surgeons and thus shares its goals (Table ​(Table22). Table 2 Aims and goals of the American College of Surgeons Program for Accreditation of Education Institutes∗