FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 18, 2009

Ultrasound training simulator allows clinicians to improve skills  without extended ultrasound scanning sessions  
Former St. John’s radiology school graduate donates device

When Joe Rothgeb graduated from St. John’s School of Radiologic Technology in 1986, he was thankful. He was thankful to have been admitted into the program and thankful to the St. John’s staff who trained him. After graduation, he worked at organizations such as Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, University of Iowa Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital before opening his own business educating other radiology and ultrasound technicians, also known as sonographers.
 
He donated a MedSim Ultrasound Training Simulator and software education modules to St. John's as a way to give back to a program he is proud to have been a part of.

The simulator allows students to practice performing sonographic examinations on a mannequin while viewing real-time sonographic images. The scanning motions and techniques used by the students realistically simulate the same skills necessary to examine a patient. By allowing students to practice on the simulator for as much time as they need to achieve initial competency, the students should be able to perform more effectively in a shorter period of time in the actual clinical setting.
 
The UltraSim® is a complete system simulator with an intuitively designed, generic control panel. The simulator provides all of the necessary clinical data as well as a detailed, annotated analysis for each patient case. These help the ultrasound student learn how to prepare a complete patient workup. Other training features allow the educator to easily monitor and evaluate the student's progress.
 
Rothgeb posted an announcement on a professional society website indicating he was willing to donate the simulator earlier this year. When Sue Elmore, ultrasound quality coordinator for St. John’s Health System, was among the 50 or so people who responded he said he knew the right place to make the donation.
 
“Compassion and caring for people who are ill is not something that can be taught from a book,” Rothgeb explained. “It is taught by example and the people I trained under at St. John’s set a very good example for me that I have carried throughout my life. It is now through my business that I am able to contribute back to St. John’s. St. John’s was more than just a school to me. The people there made me a part of their family. I have never felt closer to people in a work place than I did at St. John’s.”
 
Elmore is thankful to receive the simulator, which is valued around $45,000. Buying one new would cost the program more than $100,000. The simulator will serve a multi-purpose role to help improve ultrasound quality at St. John’s.
 
A primary purpose will be as a hands-on tool for student sonographers to learn abdomen, small parts, obstetrics and gynecology studies.
 
“By working with the simulator, students can gain basic clinical scanning skills without exposing patients to extended scanning sessions,” Elmore said.
 
The simulator will also be used for training annual competency testing for labor and delivery nurses and ultrasound competency testing for St. John’s Clinic physicians choosing to perform dating scans in their office suites as part of their routine OB care.
 

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