Medical simulations help medical students learn to provide good care. In the past, more simulations were done using “standardized” patients, actors who posed as ill individuals. More recently, however, high-tech mannequins are used in simulation centers and can teach medical students about many different complex medical situations. In many medical schools both standardized patients and high-tech simulations are used to train students.

Simulations provide realistic opportunities for students to handle complex medical scenarios. Using sophisticated mannequins medical students face none of the risk associated with real patients yet they can learn the necessary skills in providing good medical care. Situations are often set up so that med students can practice essential team work and solve crises together. At NYU, the third floor of Bellevue Hospital is a simulation center. After only six months in operation, the center has already trained 5,000 students from regional medical and nursing schools. The Johns Hopkins Simulation Center is devoted to teaching in an effort to provide the best safety in caring for patients; both med students and current practitioners use the site to hone their skills.

–Liza Thompson, Expert Medical School Admissions Consulting