The Summa Health System/ABIA Medical Simulation Fellowship is unique in several ways:

Summa Health System’s Virtual Care Simulation Laboratory: 

Summa Health System’s Virtual Care Simulation Laboratory (VCSL) is the preeminent hospital-based simulation laboratory in the Greater Akron area.

ABIA’s Center for Simulation and Integrated Healthcare Education:

The Center for Simulation and Integrated Healthcare Education (CSIHE) is a 30,000 square-foot, three-story, state-of-the-art simulation facility located in the center of downtown Akron’s biomedical corridor.  This facility serves as a regional training center for the five partner institutions that make up the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA): Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron General Health System, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Summa Health System and The University of Akron.

Formal Curriculum:

The Summa Health System/ABIA Medical Simulation Fellowship has a very well-developed curriculum with clear goals and objectives. The development of Fellows as experts in medical simulation is a priority. The Medical Simulation Fellowship team work side-by-side with Fellows, with the goal that they be able to lead their own simulation program after graduation.

As described on the curriculum page, the Medical Simulation Fellowship has several very structured formative and summative sessions to ensure Fellows’ progression to “expert faculty” status in the use of simulation as a teaching methodology.

The Medical Simulation Fellowship includes participation in the renowned Center for Medical Simulation 5½-day Comprehensive Instructor Workshop at Harvard/MIT in Boston, Massachusetts and the prestigious American College of Emergency Physicians 12-day Teaching Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.  Although these two programs provide you with excellent faculty development training and certification during the protected year of fellowship, students are strongly encouraged to simultaneously apply to and earn a master’s degree in medical education during the fellowship.

Summa’s Emergency Medicine Research Center:

The Department of Emergency Medicine at Summa Akron City Hospital has an established, national reputation in academic emergency medicine as a result of its commitment to resident education, documented productivity in basic and clinical research, and high-quality patient care.  The Emergency Medicine Research Center was established in 1994 to support the research activities of the Emergency Department.  The research center’s goals are to establish department-specific research-related services, increase faculty participation in research, increase the quality and quantity of resident and faculty research activities, and establish focused research areas.  The research areas of focus currently include: geriatrics, acute medical emergencies, cost-effectiveness/healthcare studies, and educational processes in emergency medicine including medical simulation.  The Emergency Medicine Research Center currently is participating in multiple NIH-funded clinical trials and has grants to develop novel research projects.  The Emergency Medicine Research Center has personnel and other resources to assist in developing research projects.

ABIA’s Medical Device Development Center:

The Medical Device Development Center (MDDC) at the ABIA is a center where clinicians collaborate with scientists and engineers from academia and industry to produce life-enhancing and life-saving devices from advanced biomaterials.  The CSIHE team at ABIA is currently working on several simulation projects in which novel simulators and training devices are being developed and patented through the help of MDDC.  Fellows will be encouraged to work with various teams to develop these innovative products.