Teaching the Teachers
A simulation fellowship trains global medical educators
Samia Medeiros Barbar, M.D., will use her expertise to train others when she returns to Brazil
By Josh Baxt / Photography by Jeffery Salter
The Gordon Center’s Simulation Education and Research Fellowship draws physicians and nurses from around the world to learn how leading-edge simulation practices can enhance clinical skills and address real-world medical challenges.
“The idea is to train a group of people in simulation-based education as well as broader medical education principles,” said Ross Scalese, M.D. the Gordon Center’s director of educational technology development and professor in the Miller School’s Department of Medicine. “Medical school and residency are mostly focused on clinical training and biomedical research, but education is quite different. It’s not something people routinely get in their medical training.”
This can create a disconnect. Many gifted physicians are asked to teach trainees but have little educational training of their own. Medical education is a distinct discipline. Through these fellowships and other programs, the Gordon Center fills that gap.
Expanding Medical Education Frontiers
The Gordon Center has accepted 18 international fellows since 2010. The current fellow, from Brazil, is Samia Medeiros Barbar, M.D., a pediatric cardiologist at the University of São Paulo’s Heart Institute.
“Dr. Barbar will direct a new simulation center being built at her institution,” Dr. Scalese said. “She’s already an attending in pediatric cardiology, but she’s going to take on this new role running the simulation center.”
Dr. Barbar’s interest in medical education started at the Heart Institute, which sees both adult and pediatric patients. However, few of the cardiology nurses had pediatric experience.
“Children with congenital heart disease are quite different,” Dr. Barbar said. “Their oxygen saturation levels are different. Their blood pressure levels are different. This made the nurses a little uncertain when dealing with kids, and they were very open to learn.”
Dr. Barbar enjoyed training the nurses and wanted to dive deeper into medical education. She began the Gordon Center fellowship in September and will stay in Miami for a year.
Eager to Share Her Experience
“I’m getting experience in how to use simulation in different settings for different levels of expertise — medical students, residents, postdocs,” she said. “It’s similar to what we plan to do back home.”
The fellowship is also helping Dr. Barbar understand how soft skills like communication augment technical capabilities. She is eager to share what she is learning, which dovetails nicely with the Gordon Center’s mission.
“These fellowships give us a great opportunity to spread the word about education and simulation, and how those can really improve patient care,” Dr. Scalese said. “It also builds a worldwide community. We see former fellows at conferences, and it’s just a great feeling to see how well they’ve done. Hopefully, we’ve played a small part in that.”
