Three years after the $10 million gift from University alumnus Bill DiSomma, the Jump Simulation Center is now open for medical training for Carle Illinois College of Medicine students.

The center is home to several new technologies, including a simulated operating room and simulation mannequins, according to the Jump Simulation Center’s website.

Rashid Bashir, executive associate dean and chief diversity officer of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and professor in Engineering, said he hopes the Jump Simulation Center will expose students to a realistic medical environment.

“It is like a mini, mock hospital where medical students can come and get trained on various medical procedures through the use of simulation tools and simulation environments and also simulated patients,” Bashir said.

Artificial patients range across all genders and ages. The mannequins have technologies placed in them to simulate different medical conditions, so students can gain practice with procedures and exams, he said.

“The priority is for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine students, but then after that we have a governing committee that we have set up and any entity on campus and beyond that wants to partner,” Bashir said.

He said those who wish to use the center’s services can put in a request that faculty will review.

Kesh Kesavadas, director of the health care engineering systems center and professor in Engineering, said the Jump Simulation Center can be used by students of all majors to develop and test new technologies.

“The simulation center can also be used by engineers to try new technologies. Like a new sensor, or something like that,” Kesavadas said. “They can see how it can be figured inside a hospital.”

The Jump Simulation Center provides students with a new method of learning that has not been traditionally used, giving students the opportunity to practice in an environment outside of the hospital, Kesavadas said.

“In the past, a lot of training is done watching videos and so on and so forth, or sometimes they also have to go to a hospital to get an opportunity to go and learn things, or advanced labs,” he said.

Kesavadas said the center changes teaching because it allows students to physically practice what they are learning and to learn how to maneuver around a simulated environment.

“Now they can come to the simulation center and be taught some basic skills required in a hospital or in a medical environment, so it really gives you a hands-on active learning experience,” Kesavadas said.

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