Previous Issues

Red Sox
Scholars 2006

(L-r): Boston Red Sox outfielder Wily Mo Peña escorts Red Sox Scholar Akeem Jackson and BIDMC Medical Champion Sharon Dockham, PT, rehabilitation services.

Pediatrician. Air Force pilot. Environmental scientist. Supreme Court justice.

These were some of the career goals shared in heartfelt essays by fifth graders applying to be in this year’s class of Red Sox Scholars.

And on the evening of June 9, those dreams seemed closer to coming true as the 25 members of the Red Sox Scholars Class of 2006 took the field at Fenway for a pre-game introduction. Each scholar is an academically talented incoming sixth grader from the Boston Public Schools, selected by the Sox, BIDMC and the BELL organization (Building Educated Leaders for Life).

The event marked BIDMC’s fourth year as presenting sponsor of the program, which now includes 100 scholars – the majority graduates of the BELL academic enrichment program. The Red Sox Foundation provides each student with a $5,000 college scholarship and educational and social activities.

Each scholar is also matched with a BIDMC “medical champion”– a BIDMC health care professional or administrative staff member. Medical champions keep in regular contact with their scholars and host medical career “shadow days” at BIDMC that provide a glimpse of various health care professions. Past shadow days have featured field trips to the Carl J. Shapiro Simulation and Skills Center, neonatology intensive care unit (NICU), radiology and the emergency department.

“The program offers the opportunity to expose students – hopefully, future caregivers – to lesser known disciplines such as social work that contribute to the high level of care at BIDMC,” says medical champion Jennifer Schwartz, a community resource specialist at Healthcare Associates. ”The Red Sox organization is providing us with a cross-culturally appealing medium to reach out to the next generation.”

Click here for a list of this year's Red Sox/BIDMC medical champions.

 

BIDMC Opens Carl J. Shapiro
Simulation and Skills Center

On June 13, BIDMC and the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research opened a simulation center that is among the most comprehensive in the country and promises to raise the bar for medical training at major academic medical centers.

The state-of-the-art Carl J. Shapiro Simulation and Skills Center (SASC) will provide health care students and professionals from all disciplines with simulation-based skills training in the latest medical and surgical techniques. By 2008, all surgical residents will need access to a skills lab, so BIDMC is well ahead of the curve to serve as a regional resource.

“The Simulation and Skills Center embodies our philosophy of education at BIDMC,” says Richard Schwartzstein, MD, vice president of education and director of the Shapiro Institute for Education and Research. “We strive to provide rich educational experiences with meaningful faculty supervision in a safe learning environment. The new center will help us achieve these goals.”

Supported by a generous gift from Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro, the SASC is located on the ground floor of the Shapiro Clinical Center. One focal point is a mock operating room, equipped to re-create the environment of a real OR with the addition of sophisticated audiovisual equipment and polarized viewing windows. Nearby a similar room replicates multiple clinical areas, such as an emergency room, intensive care unit or a medical/ surgical floor. Physicians, nurses, students and others practice procedures on interactive mannequins that can change blood pressure or heart rate on cue and “virtual patients” who appear via video. Instructors’ observations and information collected through advanced sensors and computer equipment enable detailed feedback.

SASC co-directors David Feinstein, MD, anesthesia, and Daniel B. Jones, MD, FACS, chief of minimally invasive surgery, are experts in the simulation field. Feinstein ranks among leading faculty at the Center for Medical Simulation in Cambridge, a major U.S. simulation center. Jones is a leading advocate of simulation within the American College of Surgeons. His “skills lab” for minimally invasive surgical training opened at BIDMC in 2003, from which the SASC emerged.

“These resources, as well as our support with curricula and research, are available to learners of all levels and to all BIDMC departments,” says Feinstein. He notes that since the ultimate goal of simulation training is greater patient safety, “students and professionals can truly benefit from practicing scenarios in simulation.”

Adds Jones, “In 2006 the surgical adage is no longer acceptable to ‘see one, do one, teach one.’ Today the expectation is practice, practice, practice and demonstrate proficiency, and BIDMC is leading this paradigm change in training and maintenance of skills.”

– Jessica Andree