Meet Dr. Kelly Lempicki
Dr. Kelly Lempicki is the Assistant Director of the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center on the Downers Grove, IL campus.
"In our simulation center [we] work with all of our programs on campus to provide that bridge between the classroom where students are learning information before they're out in real healthcare settings, and they have a chance to practice in a realistic environment."
Campus Technology at Midwestern University
The Midwestern University Clinical Skills and Simulation Center provides students from all programs the chance to put their classroom-learned skills to the test in realistic scenarios with mannequins and live actors, with careful oversight from experienced faculty.
Transcript
At Midwestern University, getting students "Day One Ready" is a big part of their promise. And what better way than to have students work with the most updated equipment and technology? Earlier this week, I met Dr. Kelly Lempicki, who oversees the Sim Center, where students from multiple disciplines go to learn and experience all types of situations centered in technology. Take a look.
Alex: This is absolutely fascinating.
Dr. Lempicki: This whole room is filled with virtual reality trainers for optometry students, where they can look at abnormalities from the front to the back of the eye.
Alex: And how many abnormalities can there be in the eye?
Dr. Lempicki: There are hundreds. And the nice thing about this platform is it lets each student have their own login so the system can track what the students have done, and then faculty can go back and see the student's progression over time. So it's really great not only for the students, but also for faculty.
Alex: Yeah, I mean, what an incredible resource.
Dr. Lempicki: Yeah. Take another look.
Alex: Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome.
Alex: These mannequins are really lifelike.
Dr. Lempicki: The Dental Simulation Clinic here has a station for every student to work at. They have all the tools that they need at their station, their suction, their water, their drill, everything they would have in a real clinic setting. Beyond this room, there are so much advanced technology as well that students have a chance to work with to really hone their skills in more advanced dental procedures. You wouldn't want them working on your teeth for the first time if they hadn't had this practice, would you?
Alex: Yeah, I, I feel very confident looking at what they're getting to experience here. It's amazing.
Dr. Lempicki: Hands off, Alex.
Alex: Okay, Sorry. Stop touching things.
Dr. Lempicki: Now we're here in our Simulation Center where we work with all of our programs on campus to provide that bridge between the classroom where students are learning information before they're out in real healthcare settings, and they have a chance to practice in a realistic environment. So students might work with just students from their own program or students from other programs on campus and interprofessional activities.
Alex: Okay. So what would be like an example of what would go down in here?
Dr. Lempicki: So, for example, a mock patient loses their pulse, they're not breathing. In real life, a swarm of providers is gonna come into that patient's room, and we can simulate that here for our students. Our medical students are coming in, respiratory, pharmacy. They're gonna grab their meds from that crash cart, hand those over for administration, somebody's doing their chest compressions. It gives students that practice in that realistic environment before they're out and working with real patients.
Alex: Just walking up here, it felt like a real hospital.
Dr. Lempicki: As real as it gets. Let's give you a chance to practice here, Alex.
Alex: Okay, here we go. 1, 2, 3.
That is some pretty exciting stuff, Dr. Lempicki. Experiencing all those patient situations will give students confidence that they will be ready for anything they face thanks to Midwestern's latest technologies.