PV-HCOP expands STCC Patient Simulation Lab workshops
In the first year of the Pioneer Valley Health Careers Opportunity Program (PV-HCOP), an after-school program was conducted at SIMS Medical Center A virtual teaching hospital at STCC. Sixteen high school students affiliated with the Pioneer Valley Area Health Education Center of Springfield (PV-AHEC) took part in the program and "had an extremely positive experience," according to Springfield PV-AHEC director Brenda Evans.
Building upon the success of the first year, the after-school program will be offered again at STCC in the fall of 2009 and in the spring of 2010. This year the opportunity to participate was expanded to include students from Greenfield High School and Franklin County Technical High School in the northern Pioneer Valley. Students from the Holyoke public schools were also recruited to attend the course. PV-AHEC students will be invited to participate in spring 2010.
The simulation experience consists of ten sessions designed to introduce students to aspects of patient care and a variety of allied health fields, such as sonography, clinical laboratory science, surgical technology, respiratory care, radiography. In addition, students had the opportunity to learn elementary patient care skills such as taking blood pressures, pulses, proper hand washing, communication and patient assessment. The students would then practice these skills, using the "patients" at SIMS Medical Center; the "patients" would talk to the students giving them feedback about their clinical performance
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March 29, 2010
