TAMPA, Fla. (April  5, 2006) – USF Health and the University of South Florida Research Foundation, in collaboration with Medical Conference Centers, LLC, is developing a $60-to-$70-million high-technology advanced medical learning and simulation center to support USF's programs for lifelong learning.

The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation will be located in the USF Research Park of Tampa Bay on the USF Tampa campus and will include a research and training center and attached hotel. The center will be a real-life working and teaching environment equipped with advanced technology to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills to the learner. 

           
"The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation will position USF as a clear leader in medical and life sciences education and training," said USF President Judy Genshaft. "This project demonstrates our commitment to building partnerships within the community that have significant economic impact on the Tampa Bay region."

The center includes four core components: surgical skills laboratory, virtual hospital/simulation center, concept development laboratory, a center for research in healthcare education and a hotel.

Surgical Skills Laboratory: A core component of the center is the surgical skills laboratory featuring an operating room environment with 40 workstations and two master teaching stations. It will provide a venue for surgeons of all specialties to learn and practice minimally invasive surgeries.  It will also provide an opportunity for medical and surgical device companies to test new equipment and train their sales force and physician clients in the use of specialized medical instrumentation.

Simulation Center/Virtual Hospital: Another core component of the center is the four room virtual hospital that will be utilized for simulation research, validation and training and for preparing first-responders and first receivers to provide care in response to disasters, acts of bioterrorism and mass casualty events.  The virtual hospital will include a triage area, emergency room, operating suite, intensive care unit and standard patient room to provide simulation capability that can be tailored to replicate any healthcare delivery setting.

Concept Development Laboratory: The concept development laboratory for interdisciplinary research will be located adjacent to the surgical skills laboratory.  Following development and prototyping, pre-clinical testing may occur in the OR simulation suite or the surgical skills laboratory.  This concept lab will provide an excellent environment for research involving new technologies in minimally invasive surgery including robotic, computer-assisted and image-guided surgery.

Center for Research in Health Care Education: This component will bring together professionals across disciplines who are interested in educational research.  Staff of the center will assist faculty and students to design studies, develop research and evaluation instruments, collect and analyze data, prepare manuscripts for publication and advise on proposal preparation.

Medical Conference Centers, LLC will develop and finance the project and manage the hospitality component.  The USF Health Office of Continuing Professional Development, led by Deborah Sutherland, PhD, will manage the research and training facility as an extension of its current continuing education business, through a contractual arrangement with Medical Conference Centers, LLC.  Alexander Rosemurgy, MD, director of General Surgery, worked with Dr. Sutherland for two years on the concept for the project.

The USF Research Foundation is providing space in the USF Research Park of Tampa Bay for this and other projects that further the research and economic development mission of USF.

- USF Health -

USF Health is the University of South Florida's enterprise of researchers, teachers and clinicians dedicated to improving the full continuum of health. Its core is the colleges of Public Health, Nursing and Medicine, including a School of Physical Therapy, as well as the healthcare delivered by its 450 physicians and more than 100 nurse practitioners. In partnership with its affiliated hospitals, USF Health's research funding last year was $134 million -- more than half of which came from federal sources. Last year, USF health clinicians cared for more than 31,000 patients and oversaw 396,000 outpatient visits.