Medical Student Research Informs Resident Training Program Physicians at DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine faculty created a pediatric simulation program to ensure every resident gets the advanced practice they need to handle crisis situations.
6 | Fall 2022 | Alumni News & Notes
No one can know exactly what type of patient crisis may arrive in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) on any given day. Some residents may be rounding on a day when an emergency happens, but others may not get that opportunity. To ensure every resident gets the advanced practice they need to handle crisis situations, physicians at DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine faculty created a pediatric simulation program.
“We don’t see high volumes, so some residents would get a great education in the PICU, but others wouldn’t get the same level of experience,” says Melissa Fussell, MD, the medical director of Simulation Based Education and Research at DHMC and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Geisel. “We wanted to give everyone the same opportunity to see these cases in pediatric critical care.” The remedy Fussell helped develop is PICU PRACTICE (Pediatric Resuscitation and Communication