The Future of Technology in Medical Education by Hayley

The Future of Technology in Medical Education by Hayley - February 2018 Scholarship Essay

The Future of Technology in Medical Education
My favorite and most useful technical gadget in my home is my laptop computer, without it and the internet I would not be where I am right now. I am currently a dual-enrollment honors high school student. I’m an in my senior year in high school as well as a student at our local state college. The internet has enabled me to take college classes online, even before I was old enough to drive to the college campus. This has given me a jump start on my college education. Any college classes I take while in high school are no cost to me, which is a huge savings. The internet and my laptop computer, allow me to access the school library online, to use their references when writing college essays without leaving my home. Taking my courses online allows me to complete my classwork on my own schedule; which is a substantial benefit. I would not be as far in my education, as I am without technology and the internet.
Due to my interest in a medical career, I’m interested in how medical technology is used for education. In the past medical mannequins were used mainly for teaching and practicing C.P.R. skills. Now medical mannequins have advanced beyond belief using computer simulation technology. These patient simulator mannequins are able to see, listen and talk. This new technology is being used in the education of nursing, sonography, physical therapy, and physicians. Classrooms are turning into simulation labs. Using these clinical mannequin simulators allows medical students to practice on plastic first before actual patients.
The objective of simulation technology is to help the medical student develop critical thinking, decision making, and priority setting skills. The student is able to conduct initial patient assessments and clinical interviews in the simulation lab. They are able to acquire foundational nursing skills and meet high-level simulation goals. Some of the nursing skills students can practice with simulation technology are injections, IV administration, wound care, and urethral catheterization. Some of the procedures medical students can perform using the mannequin simulators are bag-mask ventilation, intubation, defibrillation, chest tube placement, cricothyrotomy among others.
Some of the core feature of the simulation technology are breathing (moving chest), circulation (pulses, blood pressure), patient vitals (temperature, HR,RR, Sp02), airway, waveforms (cardio, respiratory), CPR, speech, BVM ventilation (rising chest, airflow), I.V. injection, blood pressure, sounds (lung, heart, bowel), and Iriscam (camera built into eye of mannequin). Mannequin dummies are designed for specific nursing and medical skills simulations ranging from CPR, to adult males and females, birthing, blood pressure, bariatric, infants, and children. The simulators are able to respond to clinical interventions performed by the student. The life-size mannequins are completely wireless and self-contained allowing them to be used in hospital and ambulance settings.
Computer software enables the instructor to program the simulation mannequin to portray any scenario necessary for the particular task they are teaching at the time. The software will also grade the student and give them feedback on the task they are practicing. They can also be timed on how long it takes them to complete the assigned task. Using this technology the student receives hands on examples of the situations they are reading about in their textbooks. These simulations enable the student to practice the scenario until they are confident in performing the procedure with a live human patient.
The United States government has begun using medical simulation in training military combat medical personnel in casualty assessment, war trauma combat response, and emergency situation trauma. This high-tech computer training is used to train field medics, medical aid stations, all the way up to hospitals. These simulations of medically-based casualties and injuries save lives by enabling military personnel to train and receive feedback regarding the results without subjecting real patients to harm. This is a better alternative than throwing untrained medics into live or death situations.
Hospitals are now starting to use medical mannequin simulations to test new surgical techniques before using them on actual patients. Surgeons can learn how to perform new surgeries and practice the procedure until they’ve perfected it without endangering patients. Just imagine all the wonderful new life saving innovations this medical technology will bring us in the future. My future goal is to become a nurse practitioner and be able to help people. I will need to keep up with the latest in computer technology throughout my years of education and my working career. Technology is here to stay as a part of our daily lives, and will continue to improve.