Three times the champs

Jax residents claim third Sim Wars championship

By Matt Galnor

The team of UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville emergency medicine residents who won the 2012 Sim Wars national championship includes (from left): Dr. Tracy Graham, Dr. Heidi Ashbaugh, Dr. Steve MacDade and Dr. Brian Baird.

It was the third national title for the residency on the Jacksonville campus in the six years of the simulation medical education competition, held at the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Buoyed by the 23,000-square-foot UF Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research, or CSESaR, and a commitment by faculty to integrating simulation into medical training, the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville’s emergency medicine residency is one of the nation’s top Sim Wars competitors.

“It’s kind of our claim to fame, and it’s really helped put us on the map,” said David A. Caro, M.D., an associate professor and program director of the emergency medicine residency.

In Sim Wars, teams are given a medical scenario — with plenty of tricks and twists — and must use their skills and judgment to handle the situation. Teams compete head-to-head; two teams at a time similar to a football game, and judges score the teams on a variety of criteria.

The winning team of UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville residents Heidi Ashbaugh, M.D., Brian Baird, M.D., Tracy Graham, M.D. and Steve MacDade, M.D., defeated Beth Israel Medical Center from New York City in the finals.