About Us

WakeMed Medical Simulation Center is designed to facilitate realistic multi-disciplinary clinical training and education using human patient simulators, educational gaming, and other technologies.  The WakeMed Medical Simulation Center offers education for all levels of healthcare providers throughout the region, including:

• WakeMed Health & Hospitals employees
• Wake AHEC students
• Capital Regional Advisory Committee members
• Regional University healthcare programs 

The Medical Simulation Center features a nurses' station, intensive care/trauma suite and a flexible patient care room. Each area is designed to mimic a typical inpatient unit and features the same technology, supplies, equipment and design found in units throughout a hospital.  In the Center, healthcare providers administer treatment for human patient simulators that can bleed, cry, breathe, and die. The goal is to allow clinicians to practice their skills, learn from their mistakes and gain confidence. They also have the opportunity to keep their skills current for those high-risk procedures in which they need to maintain proficiency but rarely have the need to perform.

Based on the concept that "hindsight is 20/20" and that two thirds of the learning process occurs in reflection; the Medical Simulation Center features an extensive A/V system where every sound and action can be recorded. Following a simulation experience, students and educators go immediately to the debriefing room where they can review the video to aid in the debriefing/reflection process.

The Medical Simulation Center provides a unique training environment for healthcare providers and is unique in that it can also take simulation experiences outside the walls of the Center and into the hospital or field to create a realistic environment to meet the needs of the customer.  Additionally, the Center offers training to providers across the healthcare continuum, including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and first responders alike.

Benefits of Medical Simulation

Using medical simulation training and education, health care providers have the opportunity to:

• Practice skills in a controlled, yet realistic environment
• Gain clinical competence and confidence through targeted training exercises
• Improve and enhance communication at all levels of care 
• Gain experience with uncommon clinical conditions and infrequently performed procedures
• Conduct research in a controlled environment
• Review specific cases and scenarios to identify areas of opportunity