Simulation serving Medical Training
Care teams have to deal with many different critical situations such as cardiac arrest, massive hemorrhaging, poisoning, amputation, and pediatric trauma. In order to create a safe environment for learners and patients, health-care professionals count on simulation to learn and acquire various techniques, improve the effectiveness of their interventions, and improve communication and interaction within the interprofessional team.

Simulation is a core aspect of teaching on the health campus. Photo: Robert Dumont – UdeS
With this view in mind, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS have teamed up to create the clinical-simulation laboratory, which was just inaugurated with the participation of the Minister responsible for Higher Education, HŽlène David. The first phase of this $11.3 million development project has been made possible with the support of the foundations of the CHUS and the UniversitŽ de Sherbrooke. It will be completed with a $5.2 million investment from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
“This ceremony is particularly important, because we are inaugurating much more than just facilities,” pointed out President Luce Samoisette. “This laboratory is, in some way, an expression of our brand, of the alliance between the hospital community and the academic community. It’s the confluence of faculty members, clinicians, and students for the benefit of the general population.”
Reproducing Highly Accurate Situations
This new laboratory, equipped with rooms that meet the highest standards of medical practice, has high-fidelity manikins and equipment at the cutting edge of technology. Everything has been put into place to reproduce, as faithfully as possible, the clinical situations that health-care professionals have to face.
The laboratory, with 1500 m2 of floor space, should account for 5000 hours of use in 2016–2017. In addition to experiencing the simulation of acts that range from routine to exceptional, practicing professionals as well as those in training have the privilege of interacting with their coworkers in a simulation context. The goal is to improve the quality and safety of care while making interventions more effective in concrete cases in the future. A total of more than 2000 students from different programs and 4000 employees will benefit from the facilities.

President Luce Samoisette and Minister HŽlène David cutting the inaugural ribbon in the company of Dean Pierre Cossette, MNA Guy Hardy, and the President and Executive Director of the CIUSSS-CHUS, Patricia Gauthier. Photo: Robert Dumont – UdeS
“Whether from its development or the funding of its implementation or operation, the clinical-simulation laboratory eloquently illustrates the cooperation that defines us. I would like to take this opportunity to underscore the unfailing support of the many donors that have made this project a reality, including the great many physicians and faculty members within our institutions. The entire population of Estrie benefits from being able to count on highly qualified personnel,” stated Patricia Gauthier President and Executive Director of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS.