Practice Makes Perfect

My colleague on this rotation and I were lucky enough to have the chance to use the Harvey machine last week under the tutelage of Dr. Matthew Sibbald. The Harvey machine simulates a variety of cardiac and respiratory physical exam findings, and so we got to listen to a variety of murmurs and feel simulated pulses. It was a valuable hour of learning that combined great traditional teaching from Dr. Sibbald with the technology of the Harvey simulator.

Aside from the day-to-day clinical work of clerkship, the learning activities that I have found among the most valuable are simulation activities.  During our surgery, anesthesia, medicine, and emergency medicine rotations we were able to take part in simulation activities that used models and electronics to mimic a variety of medical presentations and emergencies. These ranged from heart attacks to anaphylaxis to traumas. These activities allowed us to apply our knowledge in a practical way and to (sort of) experience what these situations might be like in real life.

The latter point is the first part of why I find these activities so valuable. It’s one thing to regurgitate a written answer on a test, but it is something entirely different to put yourself in the shoes of a resident running a code, immersing yourself in a simulation that responds dynamically to your decisions.  While in the end you know no patient is going to be harmed, it is easy to treat these simulations as real situations.

The second part of why I find these simulations so valuable is because they offered us a way to work on skills that we do not often get the chance to develop during regular clinical work. For example, during our session with Dr. Sibbald and Harvey, we had the opportunity to hear and feel a variety of physical findings for aortic insufficiency that we hadn’t encountered in clinical practice before (and likely won’t for some time). 

Practice makes perfect, and it’s hard to practice skills when the chance doesn’t often come up. Although there is nothing that can truly simulate real life, we’re lucky that these great tools have been developed for us so that we can practice crucial skills, solidify knowledge we’ve learned from our lectures and textbooks, and gain some experience so that we are more prepared outside of the simulation setting.