Helping medical students and practitioners gain from practical hands-on training, the Medical Simulation Centre at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute has recently been recognised as an accredited International Training Centre (ITC) of the American Heart Association (AHA).
“It is only the seventh medical college in India to have received this accreditation,” said K.R. Sethuraman, Vice-Chancellor, Balaji Vidyapeeth University.
The centre offers training in basic and advanced resuscitation, besides simulators and manikins under various fields such as anatomy, physiology, ENT, general medicine, obstetrics, paediatrics and anaesthesiology. The centre is equipped with CPR manikins, ACLS simulators, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), manual defibrillators, basic and advanced airway devices.
The AHA-certified courses include Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
“The idea is to provide training to those in the medical field without using humans. Thus, medical students are well-trained before they take on actual cases,” said Dr. Sethuraman. All doctors at the institute’s hospital, MBBS and postgraduate students will be trained in ACLS. Paramedical and nursing students will be trained in BLS. Medical students and doctors from other institutions can also take up training at the centre. Those completing the course will receive an internationally recognised certificate, said Dr. Sethuraman.
“The actual scenario can be simulated, thus treatment and its effects can be gauged. This also helps in cases of rare medical conditions which can be created and medical practitioners can be trained in treating such conditions,” said M. Ravishankar, Head of Anaesthesiology and ITC co-ordinator for AHA.
Other fields have already been using simulation in training, said Anand Monickam, Medical Officer-Medical Simulation Centre, citing the example of pilot training.
The institution is planning to extend training in BLS to schoolchildren, police personnel and drivers in Puducherry. It recently completed training for 600 students at Amalorpavam Higher Secondary School, said Dr. Monickam.
