302 Tour brings student-athletes to Bayhealth Sim Center

Bayhealth recently invited University of Delaware student-athletes to visit the PCOM Simulation Center at Bayhealth to get a peek at its state-of-the-art training environment, Bayhealth.org/Healthcare-Professionals/PCOM-Sim-Center.

The visit was part of the university’s 302 Tour, which allowed students from the New Castle County campus to see all the opportunities available in Sussex and Kent counties.

The day started with Sarah Beebe, PhD, CNM, WHNP, CHSE, graduate medical education simulation lab program manager, promptly setting the students up in a CPR competition. They performed chest compressions timed to music on high-tech mannikins that recorded the students’ accuracy. The student who most accurately performed CPR was awarded a $25 gift card.

The high energy continued as Beebe led students on a tour of the 10,000-square-foot facility that opened in October 2022. Beebe welcomed the students to use various simulation equipment and machines that medical students, residents and healthcare professionals use to gain hands-on experience. They saw how Bayhealth utilizes high-fidelity simulator mannikins — which can talk, bleed, cry and undergo small surgical procedures — to train medical professionals in care for trauma patients.

The UD students also saw surgical training machines in a simulated operating room and tried their hand at performing a simulated endoscopy.

Sam Steinberg, a sophomore who cheers for UD and plans to pursue a career in the sports medicine field, marveled at the high-tech training environment. “I love the simulators, I feel like I could stay for hours learning how to use them,” she said.

Dylan Norris, a volleyball player who plans to attend medical school, said she was impressed by the technology available in the sim center. “Technology is so important to a medical student’s learning experience, especially when they can get performance feedback in real time,” she said.

After the sim center tour, the students heard from Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Cathy Kanefsky, who spoke about Bayhealth’s collaboration with the Food Bank and American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to launch 302 Food Rescue, a first-in-the-nation statewide food rescue program.

For more information, go to Bayhealth.org/Healthcare-Professionals/PCOM-Sim-Center .