Michener’s St. Patrick Campus features multiple large simulation suites, as well as 24 clinical exam rooms for testing and assessment.

Highlights:

• Clinical exam rooms, located on the 3rd floor, have front hallway access for candidates and rear hallway access for examiners
• All rooms offer built-in recording equipment configured to the CAE LearningSpace® web-based recording and debriefing system
• Video recordings can be easily exported from the system
• Examiner corridors behind clinical exam rooms have one-way glass and control panels for viewing and monitoring
• Suites are acoustically separated and have restricted access to ensure examination integrity
• Fully customizable overhead announcement system
• Separate rooms to accommodate standardized patients, examiners, candidates, administration and AV personnel
• Multifunctional reception area

Michener’s St. Patrick Campus provides a variety of simulation facilities and environments to enable education and assessment of health professions using collaborative patient-centered practice scenarios. They include:

• Simulation studios: flexible spaces that can be set up to simulate patient room, triage unit, operating room, etc.
• Fully integrated recording equipment configured to the CAE LearningSpace® recording and debriefing system
• Staging studio: rooms with sliding partitions to double, triple or quadruple size and allow for multiple scenarios
• Control rooms
  • Elevated and feature one-way glass for scenario monitoring
  • Two-way communication between control rooms and simulation rooms
  • Infrastructure available to control mannequins and AV recording
• Debrief, multi-purpose and breakout rooms with:
  • Infrastructure to support viewing and debriefing previously recorded AV via CAE LearningSpace®
  • Projector, motorized screen, cameras

Michener’s Simulated Participant (SP) Program enhances communication capacity, reinforces therapeutic alliances and provides reflective feedback through dynamic portrayals by trained simulation professionals.

As a member of the global simulated participant (SP) community of practice, we are a leader in SP methodology. We are dedicated to inspiring lifelong learning, bridging student success at entry-to-practice with continuous professional development through innovative human-centred communication.

• Integrity
  • We are dedicated to ethical, transparent and evidence-informed education
  • We are committed to inclusive authorship and representation in all simulation activity
• Safety and wellness
  • We are committed to preserving and promoting safety equitably for all stakeholders across the healthcare education spectrum
  • We embrace the imperative to do no harm by respecting the complexity of communication
• Compassion
  • We listen respectfully and respond compassionately to the diverse perspective of patients, colleagues, learners and faculty
• Collaboration
  • We value all stakeholders as essential contributors to the education process
  • We foster partnerships, teamwork, and co-creation through relationship building

Who are Simulated Participants?

Simulated participants (SPs) are individuals who are trained to portray authentic roles to facilitate experiential learning, including patients, clients, health care professionals, and family members (Lewis et al., 2017).  They are not ‘used’ as a tool, but rather engaged as a living resource.  They are not ‘actors’ (normally associated with entertainment) but highly trained, skilled individuals who provide constructive communication feedback from the perspective of the client or patient, and always with the learner as their central focus.

SPs may be engaged for both formative learning and summative assessment.  For the purposes of summative assessment, SPs are typically trained to behave in a highly repeatable or standardized manner in order to give every learner a fair and equal opportunity (Lewis et al., 2017).

Potential Simulated Participants

If you are interested in working with Michener’s Simulated Participant Program, please send your CV to spprogram@michener.ca. SP positions are part-time casual.

CAE LearningSpace is an audio-visual system that is used in healthcare simulation to record students in order for them to observe and reflect on their performance. Recording infrastructure is installed throughout CASE, and in select discipline-specific labs, including CT, general X-ray, Ultrasound, Radiation Therapy, Nuclear Medicine, and Respiratory Therapy. CASE staff are available to setup and coordinate video recording.

Manikins are specially created models used in healthcare education to simulate physiological and anatomical features of real patients.

Using manikins in clinical simulations allows students to ‘practice on plastic’ first. The reality of manikin-based simulations allows for virtual feedback using computers that regulate the manikin’s compressors, mimicking pulses and chest raising. These life-like manikins simulate heart tones and other vital cues that when connected to monitors, provides real-time information to students. By practicing true clinical skills in a safe and regulated environment, future health care professionals learn permanent and excellent evaluation and treatment techniques. CASE staff are available to operate manikins and refine simulation scenarios that leverage this modality.

Why moulage? We believe it can increase knowledge and performance by suspending disbelief, engaging the senses, adding realism, providing clues and supporting decision making. Moulage is a tool that can be used to help students look for physical signs in a diagnosis and is never meant to distract from the case but to enhance the objectives. Examples of what we can do are : vomit, blood, bruises, wounds, ulcers, rashes. Why not talk to us about what we might be able to do for you?

Debriefing clinical simulation experiences is increasingly understood as a crucial step in clarifying and consolidating insights and lessons from simulations. CASE staff are available to act as co-debriefers for faculty subject matter experts.

The Centre for Learning, Innovation and Simulation has access to a number of clinical and simulation equipment integral to the delivery of authentic training scenarios.

Equipment includes:

• 2 Adult High Fidelity Manikins (Gaumard HAL S3201)
• 3 Adult High Fidelity Manikins (Laerdal SimMan Classic)
• 2 Pediatric High Fidelity Manikins (Laerdal SimBaby)
• 3 Adult Low Fidelity Manikins
• 11 Mechanical Ventilators (adult and pediatric available)
• 1 Anesthetic Gas Machine (GE Avance)
• 2 Crash Carts, including simulated medications
• 30 Venipuncture Task Trainers
• 1 Central Line Task Trainer (Chester Chest)
• 4 Arterial Line Task Trainer
• 10 Intubation Task Trainers
• 2 VentriloScopes (breath sounds trainer for use with Simulated Patients)
• 1 Portable Lift (Hoyer)
• 1 Ceiling Lift

Please contact us for current rental pricing.

Jordan has extensive experience in simulation-based health professions education, including program administration and operations, faculty development, curriculum design, assessment, clinical integration and debriefing.  Jordan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University, a Master’s Degree in Education and Digital Technologies from University of Ontario, Institute of Technology, and a clinical and teaching background in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Technology.  Jordan is also a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator with the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and is faculty with Simulation Canada.

Kerry Knickle is the Director for the Simulated Participant Program at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. She has over twenty years’ experience as academic educator and communication consultant in the areas of curriculum design and simulation methodology.
Kerry developed the Collegial Conflict™ Workshop Series in 2004, followed by “The Art and Science of Facilitation” with co-author Nancy McNaughton in 2008 for faculty educators and professional practitioners. Kerry’s dispute resolution focus highlights how assumptions, judgments and communication inform and impact personal and professional relationships. Kerry holds a Master of Laws degree, with a specialization in Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) from Osgoode Hall.

Nancy McNaughton is the Education Scholar for the Centre for Learning Innovation and Simulation at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. Nancy is an active educator and researcher with over 30 years of experience in the field of simulation based education. She designs and delivers curriculum, evaluation, remediation, and research activities for a variety of health professional trainees and practicing professionals, locally, nationally and internationally. Nancy’s research interests include exploring the role of emotion within health professional training and practice. She holds a Doctorate in Higher Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, (OISE) University of Toronto.

Kerri is a simulation trainer, simulation consultant and communication skills coach with The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. She has over fifteen years of experience in the field of simulation methodology. Kerri is experienced facilitating a range of interactive small group workshop sessions with a focus on the effective engagement of simulated patients for faculty educators and learners across professional disciplines.

Andrea Dyack is an Instructional Designer with experience in post-secondary healthcare education, including curriculum design, assessment and creating learner-centred lessons.  She also has post-secondary teaching experience in community and social services management, interdisciplinary studies/ career development, and clinical dental hygiene practice.

Andrea has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Allied Health Sciences degree, and a Master of Education degree from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.  She continues to practice clinically in the field of Restorative Dental Hygiene.

Roger has a clinical background as a Respiratory Therapist (RT), and has over twenty years of experience in design, facilitation, and operations of critical care simulations for students and practicing clinicians.

Andrea has worked as an administrator in medical and educational environments for over 20 years, along with many years as a surgical technician in Ophthalmology. She has extensive experience in simulation and feedback in Medical, Allied Health and Social Service education.

Please email:  SPProgram@michener.ca

Contact Andrea for: Information about the SP program/simulation, requests for SPs

Tim Chipman has worked in various departments at Michener including the LRC, AV, Curriculum Commons and CLIS. Tim is currently with CLIS and is responsible for working on various video, audio, multi-media, simulation and photography projects.

Contact Tim for: Audio/visual production and webinar hosting

Alex DeOliveira is Michener’s Learning Systems Administrator – a fancy way of saying he looks after Blackboard Learn and a bunch of digital media stuff too. Alex has been involved with Blackboard in some capacity since Michener adopted it as its Learning Management System (LMS) in the Fall 2000 semester. Alex’s experience with Blackboard Learn has ranged from technical support to system administration. Alex can sometimes be found in a crowd with a camera documenting the latest Michener event, pushing a cart full of A/V equipment in support of video production and has even been known to staff the Help Desk and LRC on occasion. Alex truly is Michener’s “a little bit of everything” guy!

Phillip has an extensive background in media production. He worked in commercials and features as a technician before moving into corporate production to write and produce promotional and instructional videos. Phillip also holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and helped develop fire retardant coatings before enrolling in Sheridan College’s acclaimed Media Arts Program. He is responsible for providing video production support and expertise for the CLIS.