Press Release

June 27, 2006
Contact: Patricia M. Hansen
732-235-6307
hansenmp@umdnj.edu

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Announces Special Arrival
- SimBaby Arrives on Medical School Campus-

New Brunswick — Christine W. Hunter, MD, associate professor and chair, Department of Anesthesiology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is pleased to announce the recent arrival of SimBaby, the newest member of the simulator family. Weighing 21 pounds, and measuring 27.5 inches, the infant mannequin realistically simulates the anatomy and physiological responses of a child three months to two years old.

“Simulation studies are an important addition to the medical curriculum,” explains Christine Hunter, chair of Department of Anesthesiology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “The life-like mannequins help residents as well as medical students improve competency training and critical thinking skills.”

SimBaby allows vital signs to be monitored during thousands of simulated clinical scenarios — from normal to crisis, from everyday to rare — in a variety of health care settings. Previously, residents gained experience only in those situations encountered during their training. For follow-up critiques, the system can tape teaching sessions, which are synchronized with the monitor for review in the classroom at a later date.

SimBaby has heart, breath and vocal sounds, like crying and coughing; spontaneous movement, IV and blood pressure capabilities and SimBaby can be defibrillated—all for the purpose of helping to save lives.

“SimBaby provides the team with the opportunity to learn and safely practice clinical interventions and drug administrations that are specific to very young patients and promotes resident training well beyond the pediatric core competency requirements,” says Mordechai Bermann, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology and director, Human Patient Simulation Laboratory. SimBaby supports the continuing growth of the Section of Pediatric Anesthesia and the collaborative Children’s Heart Program of New Jersey.

UMDNJ-ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL

As one of the nation’s leading comprehensive medical schools, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, with campuses in New Brunswick, Piscataway and Camden, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery and the promotion of community health for the residents of New Jersey. With 2,400 full-time and volunteer faculty, the medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students, as well as continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs.

As one of eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the medical school encompasses 21 basic science and clinical departments and also integrates diverse clinical programs conducted at its 34 hospital affiliates and numerous ambulatory care sites in the region. UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School also hosts 85 centers and institutes; among them are The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.