UMKC School of Medicine Clinical Training Facility
Simulation-based education is a vetted option for experiential learning, offering hands-on opportunities for students. UMKC School of Medicine’s Clinical Training Facility (CTF) recently expanded resources to include more inclusive approaches to medical simulation.
Since opening in 2014, the SOM CTF has used high-fidelity simulation manikins and training models — all of them white-skinned — for skill-based training of health care students. That’s about to change, thanks to increasing availability of manikins of color and an initiative to add them to reflect UMKC’s diverse student population and the patients they serve. New dark-skinned IV arms, a lumbar puncture model, OB/Gyn task trainers and a newborn baby manikin made their CTF debut in January, 2021.
“We recognize that diversity in manikins does not equal an anti-racist simulation program,” said Dr. Emily Hillman, Director of Simulation Education in the Clinical Training Facility. “Beyond the color of our manikins, we must consider the cases we write. We must also explore simulation as an educational tool that can be used to train learners about racial and ethnic disparities in care, implicit bias and communicating with diverse patients.”
Those objectives are extending further to UMKC’s standardized patients, or real people who are trained to portray patients in scenario-based activities. With assistance from the School of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, UMKC’s SP Program is evaluating strategies to continue recruiting diverse members of the community to join the SP pool .
For more information about inclusion in simulation education, please reference:
Conigliaro, R., Peterson, K. and Stratton, T., 2020. Lack of Diversity in Simulation Technology. Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 15(2), pp.112-114.
For a guide to revising material to eliminate racial/cultural stereotypes, please reference the following article and appendix:
Krishnan A, Rabinowitz M, Ziminsky A, Scott S, Chretien KC. Addressing Race, Culture, and Structural Inequality in Medical Education. Acad Med. 2019;Publish Ahead of Print(NA;):NA; doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000002589
UMKC School of Medicine STAHR Program
- The STAHR Program created self-care packages for 120 student participants as a refreshing way to “kick-off” the spring semester. The packages included activities and items for de-stressing, school supplies, journals for reflection and snacks for their studying time. In addition, students received STAHR T-shirts and STAHR face masks.
- STAHR is hosting a fun, virtual paint night for its participants in mid-March. This event is a casual get-together where students from the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy can connect outside of their courses.
- STAHR has begun its planning for this year’s Summer Scholars Programs, which will begin on Monday, May 31, 2021. The programs offered this summer are: Traditional Summer Scholars which is for 2 weeks, the 6-week track for high school and undergraduate students interested in entering the fields of medicine, dentistry or pharmacy, and a 10-week track for undergraduate students interested in dentistry. All Scholars programs will be held virtually again this summer.
Additional Office of DEI Updates
- Three abstracts were accepted for presentation at the 2021 American Association of Medical Colleges Group on Diversity and Inclusion and Health Workforce Research Group Joint Conference scheduled for May 5-7, 2021. Accepted abstracts were about STAHR, UNITED, and Summer Success Seminar Series Bridge program.
- Panel Discussion – Hopefully you were able to view the documentary, Black Men in White Coats. The Offices of DEI and GME will host a panel discussion in March 2021 of Black men medical students, trainees, and attending faculty to discuss the low numbers of Black men in the medical profession and potential ways to mitigate this issue.
- Social Media – As the Office of DEI and the SOM DEI Council strive to keep medical and graduate students, trainees, faculty, and staff informed, more content will be coming out about activities, programs, and initiatives through the UMKC SOM social media platforms. Watch for content in coming weeks. Thank you to our students Dumebi Okocha and Rachel Tran for volunteering to assist with this endeavor.
- Office of DEI Leadership History Video – To archive the rich history of the Office of DEI in collaboration with our media and marketing departments, we are creating a history video of past and current leaders in the Office of DEI. This will allow for future generations and leaders to know the energies and work about DEI from the office.
