The Human Patient Simulator owned by the College of Pharmacy at Washington State University is making its first appearance this week on the main WSU campus in Pullman.
Purchased by the university 18 months ago from Laerdal®, the high-tech mannequin was recently brought from its “home” at the pharmacy college’s offices at WSU Spokane to serve as the centerpiece in a week-long class introducing first-year pharmacy students to a variety of health problems.
The mock patient can be programmed to exhibit a number of difference diseases or conditions and even to respond to medication. The WSU pharmacy college is one of a handful of pharmacy schools in the country currently using the patient simulator technology, which is more commonly used in medical and nursing schools.
Initially used exclusively by students in the third year of the four-year professional pharmacy program, the Human Patient Simulator is now also being used with first-year pharmacy students in response to a mandate by the pharmacy school accreditation commission advocating the use of such technologies earlier in the professional program.
Pharmacy faculty and students will be using the Human Patient Simulator most of the day on Thursday, Jan. 15, at the Lewis Alumni Centre on campus.
