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Quality, reliability and safety are primary concerns in your professional world—and in ours. At SiTEL of MedStar Health, we provide a comprehensive education and training solution to those who work in healthcare. As seasoned professionals, we have many years of experience in the practice and management of medicine and healthcare, respectively. We understand how training impacts performance in hospitals.
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Blog
19
Sep
2010
2010
Unleashing Creativity in Healthcare
Posted by Todd Borghesani
The hysterectomy is one of the most invasive surgical procedures in medical practice. Imagine a technique that could do delicate post-surgery stitch work with minimized chances of complications or harm. Sounds like something a seasoned physician developed, but it’s actually something a 15-year-old high school student named Tony Hansberry invented. People in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida are calling him the “next Charles Drew.”
Hansberry is a student at Darnell Cookman School of Medical Arts, referred to as the first medical magnet school in the country with an integrated medical curriculum. He came under the tutelage of Bruce Nappi, the director of the University of Florida’s Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research (CSESaR) in the summer of 2008. From his experience there, he developed a project that showed how to reduce surgical time for hysterectomies. It only won him second prize in his school’s science fair, but it caught the attention of University of Florida physicians who invited him to present his project alongside theirs during a medical education event.
Scientists have been at a loss for years trying to figure out how to get more youth, and more youth of color into medical fields. Hansberry could be the prodigy poster child they’ve been waiting for. The young medical student’s techniques have not been tried on human women yet, only simulated on mannequins, but the fact that a student of such a young age could devise such an intricate procedure is boggling the minds of doctors throughout Jacksonville.
There’s hope that there are more Hansberrys out here. The CSESaR is partnered with Hansberry’s school to provide simulation medical training and give some high school grads basic life support certification and nursing credentials. The University of Florida hopes it can be the model for medical arts magnets around the country.
The potential of what Hansberry and his young colleagues can bring to the professional medical table is evidence of what’s possible with the right outreach and investments. Like Charles Drew before him, Hansberry appears destined to revolutionize the way we think about surgery.
Initally published in The Griot (A Griot is a storyteller in western Africa who maintains oral tradition and history of a village or family)
The Grio’s 100: Tony Hansberry, whiz-kid considered ‘the next Charles Drew’
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Hollie Adejumo
Hollie Adejumo has been a high school intern at the SiTEL Clinical Simulation Center since 2010. Her principal areas of academic interest include chemistry, calculus, and global health. She is interested in providing medical services to the public and serving as a health advocate for underrepresented populations. Hollie hopes that her research will help to reduce unnecessary deaths in the future. She will pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, which will enable her to combine her interests. Proceeding to obtain an MD/PhD will give her the ability to have autonomy in the practice of medicine. This year Ms. Adejumo will be assessing the need for orthopedic simulators, and hopes to begin designing a program for an orthopedic simulator by the end of the year. Outside of school, Hollie participates in a variety of activities. Although she has been a competitive swimmer for most of her life, she also enjoys running cross country and track.
Joyce Donnellan
As the Director of Learning Management, Joyce Donnellan brings over two decades of experience in critical care nursing education and professional development to SiTEL, Medstar’s Simulation and Training Environment Laboratory. She oversees the development and operation of SiTEL’s learning management system. Ms. Donnellan specializes in the development and integration of the learning management systems in complex and decentralized environments. She has extensive experience in education and training, including the development of curricula for both live and e-learning platforms. Ms. Donnellan enjoys collaborating with program directors, educators, and other stakeholders to develop training events and effective curricula. Her research endeavors include studying the impact of online learning on organizational behavior, as well as the integration of educational games into curriculum development. Joyce has presented nationally on e-learning topics, and on innovation in emergency preparedness training. She earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing degree from George Mason University.
Pamela Leonard
Pamela Leonard brings over 15 years of experience in critical care nursing and management to her role as the Director of the SiTEL’s Clinical Simulation Centers. Pam established the first simulation center for MedStar Health and now oversees the operations of several clinical simulation centers in the greater Washington, DC and Baltimore areas. She leads the Clinical Simulation Consulting Services at SiTEL, leveraging best practices pioneered at MedStar to integrate simulation training and education programs into healthcare operations. Pam works closely with Advanced Initiatives in Medical Simulation. AIMS is a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to promoting medical simulation as a way to improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, ensure provider competency, train people to respond to public emergencies and combat situations, and reduce health care costs.
