Newswise — Bethesda, Md. — The National Capital Simulation Consortium, including the Val G. Hemming Simulation Center of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, has been reaccredited as a Comprehensive Accredited Education Institute (AEI) by the American College of Surgeons.
The National Capital Simulation Consortium, which consists of the USU Val G. Hemming Simulation Center, and simulation centers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia, has been providing healthcare simulation activities to students, residents, fellows and staff since 1999. Working with a wide array of partners from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, the more than 30,000 sq. ft. Val G. Hemming Simulation Center (www.simcen.usuhs.edu) provides learners with an expansive selection of training tools from simulated clinical exams using live patients, to task trainers designed to improve skills and in procedures, to the Wide Area Virtual Environment, or WAVE, for team training of combat medical and surgical teams.
An ACS-accredited comprehensive institute addresses the educational needs of a broad spectrum of learners and advances the science of simulation-based surgical education. The overall goals of the ACS-AEI program are to enhance surgical patient safety, support surgeons’ maintenance of certification requirements, address the competencies that all surgeons and surgical residents need to achieve and demonstrate, and enhance access to contemporary surgical education. AEIs provide learners an opportunity to learn and practice new skills, and receive immediate feedback without compromising patient safety or comfort. AEIs also conduct innovative research to advance simulation-based surgical education.
The AEI accreditation program is a voluntary peer-review process. Institutions that successfully complete the process are accredited for a period of three years. To remain accredited for another three years, an institution continues to demonstrate compliance with 31 criteria in four standards: Learners and Scope of Educational Programs; Curriculum Development, Delivery of Effective Education, and Assessment; Administration, Management and Governance; and Advancement of the Field.
There are two levels of accreditation, Comprehensive and Focused, each with specific requirements. The level of accreditation status differs based, in part, on the focus of the educational program, the learners served, the curriculum offered, and the technological support and resources available. The National Capital Simulation Consortium, as a Comprehensive AEI, provides a comprehensive program that educates four learner groups, develops original curricula, offers a broad spectrum of education programs and has the resources and physical space necessary to conduct its educational activities. The Consortium is also dedicated to the advancement of the field through research and scholarly activities.
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The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s more than 5,200 physician and 790 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations around the world, offering their leadership and expertise. USU also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research, and in oral biology. The University's research program covers a wide range of clinical and basic science important to both the military and public health. For more information, visit www.usuhs.edu.
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