It might sound like an episode of Grey's Anatomy, but doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital are getting real-life training with some fake patients.
The hospital has opened a simulation center that allows doctors and nurses to practice medicine on robotic patients with very human body functions, including breathing and even dying.
SimMan, as the patient is known, cries, sweats, bleeds and can recognize his own medications, the New Haven Register reports.
“We can change patient outcome. ... It’s worth the investment for patient safety,” Jason Zigmort, who runs the center, told the Register.
The center is called SYN:APSE, or Simulation at Yale-New Haven Advancing Patient Safety and Education, has been opened since February, the newspaper reports.
In addition to the SimMan, which can be turned into a SimWoman, there is also a SimChild. All three are controlled by a laptop computer. They are far different than training mannequins of the past because these "patients" give feedback on the treatment they are receiving. The Sim family can also "die" if doctors don't provide them with the proper care.
The facility is so popular that health care professionals from Bridgeport and Greenwich will also train there, the Register reports.
