Dr. Lennox Hoyte moved his finger ever so slightly, and the scalpel moved at his command, slicing a straight, clean cut right through the glistening skin…of a grape.

The grape was the patient at a press conference Monday to announce the opening of the USF Health da Vinci Center for Assisted Surgery. Dr. Hoyte, medical director of the center, and Dr. Alex Rosemurgy demonstrated how USF’s new robots can help surgeons perform intricate operations.

Peeling a grape is just the start of what the robots can do. USF is one of two centers in the country training doctors how to use the Si model of the da Vinci Surgical System. This robot, along with USF’s S  model of the da Vinci, can be used by specialists in many disciplines, including gynecology, urology and colorectal surgery.

The center spotlights USF’s commitment to improving medicine, in this case surgical skills, so that the best quality of care is easily accessible for patients, said Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF College of Medicine.

“This is a symbol of what USF means to the health care of the future,” Dr. Klasko said. “It really blends two things I’ve talked about: innovation and education.”

Mayor Pam Iorio, Dr. Lennox Hoyte, Dr. Stephen Klasko and Commissioner Mark Sharpe at Monday's press conference.

At a press conference Monday to announce the opening of the new center, Dr. Klasko told Mayor Pam Iorio that he knows she likes to see patients travel to Tampa Bay so they can be treated by top-flight surgeons here.

“This is even better,” Dr. Klasko said. “We’re going to bring every surgeon to Tampa Bay.”

As many as 600 surgeons a year are expected to train each year at the center, a partnership between USF and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. It’s part of USF’s larger efforts to help improve surgical skills and medical training. The USF Simulation Center opened earlier this year at Tampa General Hospital, and Dr. Klasko told the crowd Monday that plans are being finalized on another project.

The new da Vinci center is the kind of project that helps boost Tampa’s reputation and increase its intellectual capital, said Mayor Pam Iorio.

“We will get the reputation, as a community, for being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation,” she said. “You really, Dr. Klasko, have a lot to be proud of.”

County Commissioner Mark Sharpe joked that new programs at USF Health have become routine.

“You’re going to help transform the county and our city,” he said. “You are the engine driving the change in healthcare all over the country.”

Surgeons who learn to use the robots can quickly improve their skills at performing minimally invasive surgery, Dr. Hoyte said. After about 20 procedures, their skill levels with the robots can match their abilities doing traditional, open surgery. He said many surgeons have to train for years in laparoscopic surgery to reach that same skill level.

“This is about a whole philosophy of medicine,” Dr. Hoyte said. “We have placed ourselves into the forefront of medical training.”

Dr. Lennox Hoyte and Dr. Renee Bassaly next to the da Vinci Si model.

When surgeons use the robots, patients can benefit. They have faster recovery and less pain than they would with many traditional open surgeries, Dr. Hoyte said. For example, after a traditional open hysterectomy, patients are hospitalized for 3 to 4 days. After a computer-assisted one, the patient can leave after a day or two.

That’s what one of Dr. Hoyte’s patients, Dr. Cheryl Jordan, found after she had a computer-assisted hysterectomy just 16 days ago.

“She is a living example of what a great assist the surgery is,” Dr. Hoyte said.

Dr. Jordan came to Monday’s press conference to tell the crowd that the surgery was “fabulous.” She had surgery on a Saturday and went to work for a few hours on Tuesday. She walked three miles the night before the press conference.

“I probably would have done it sooner if I had known about it,” she said.

Dr. Lennox Hoyte and his patient, Dr. Cheryl Jordan, at Monday's press conference.

Dr. Jordan joined reporters at the press conference in trying out the Si model for herself, doing her best to peel a grape. The Si model has a dual console, making it easier to train other surgeons, as well as for surgeons in different specialties to perform complex operations together.

Dr. Rosemurgy, USF’s associate dean for medical simulation and academic enrichment , said that, much as he likes the Si, he is pushing for the robots to become even better.

“Don’t think of this as the destination,” he said. “This is an ongoing journey.”

Despite the robot’s advantages, it can only do so much. Mayor Iorio tried it out and confessed that, even with the robot’s help, her surgical skills are lacking.

“The grape died, unfortunately, in my less than capable hands,” she joked.

Story by Lisa Greene, Photos by Eric Younghans and Klaus Herdocia, Video by Klaus Herdocia, USF Communications Office

L to R: Dr. Alexander Rosemurgy, Dr. Sharona Ross and Dr. Devanand Mangar

Tampa FL (July 24, 2009) -- Dr. Sharona Ross and Dr. Alexander Rosemurgy – both University of South Florida general surgeons and Dr. Devanand Mangar, anesthesiologist with Gulf-to-Bay Anesthesiology and Chief of Staff at Tampa General Hospital -- last week performed what they believe is the first single incision gallbladder removal without the use of general anesthesia.

Instead of fully sedating the patient as is traditionally practiced, they used an epidural in the thoracic area. The patient was able to converse with the medical team in the operating room. Epidurals are used for women delivering babies -- to reduce the pain during labor, but are inserted in a different part of the spine, the lumbar.

The 54 year-old patient, mother of two and grandmother of 10, returned to her Tampa home on Monday and is recovering well.

USF Health's Dr. Ross and her partners Alex Rosemurgy, MD, and Michael Albrink, MD, pioneered the first laparoscopic endoscopic single site "LESS" surgeries (one incision through the belly button) in Fall 2007 at Tampa General.

“Since the entire operation is performed through the belly button, it does not leave a visible scar like the traditional multi-port laparoscopic approach - which could be anywhere from three to six incisions”, Dr. Ross explains. “This new method benefits the patient by less post-operative pain, less blood loss, faster recovery time, fewer complications and better cosmetic results….with no visible scar.”

More than 300 physicians across the country have trained with USF/TGH and Drs. Ross, Rosemurgy and Albrink have traveled the world to teach the LESS method at conferences. To date, they have performed anti-reflux operations, appendix removals, small bowel resections, liver cysts resections, stomach tumor resections, inguinal hernia repair, removal of adrenal gland and recently the first pancreatic mass resection utilizing the LESS surgical approach - to name a few.

They have also performed combined operations in the same patient (i.e., a hysterectomy and a gallbladder removal, or a gallbladder removal and an anti-reflux procedure). They continue to refine the LESS approach to surgery, and are developing surgeries using natural orifices (vagina, anus, mouth). The physicians with the USF Digestive Disorders Center are hosting a CME LESS Course at Tampa General in November.

About USF Health
USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

About TGH
Tampa General is a 958-bed acute care hospital on the west coast of Florida that serves as the region’s only center for Level I trauma care, comprehensive burn care and adult solid organ transplants. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida College of Medicine. TGH is also one of only eleven comprehensive stroke centers in Florida and is a state-certified spinal cord and head injury rehabilitation center. For more information, visit www.tgh.org

Linda Nelson, ARNP, MSN (left), nurse manager for clinical operations at the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare, and Valerie Williams, BSN, MBA, assistant director of nursing/clinical systems, greet visitors at the Neighborhood Care Center reception.

TAMPA, Fla. (June 22, 2009) – Tampa-based Sweetbay Supermarket continues to strengthen its home-grown roots by deepening its partnership with USF and collaborating on the Florida-based chain’s first in-store wellness clinic. USF Health Neighborhood Care Center, scheduled to open July 16 with two ARNPs, will be featured inside the store at its newest location in New Tampa.

“We are proud to offer the New Tampa community an in-store neighborhood care center where they can have convenient access to high-quality medical services that fit their needs,” notes Mike Vail, president and COO of Sweetbay Supermarket. “This service helps make our shoppers’ lives more convenient and the comprehensive quality of care that USF Health provides is exactly what we want to offer the New Tampa community.”

The USF Health Neighborhood Care Center will offer a variety of services through an advanced registered nurse practicioner. From common illnesses to camp physicals and vaccines, patients can visit the Neighborhood Care Center, and then be referred into the network of more than 350 doctors in the USF Physicians Group for further treatment if needed.

Dr. Stephen Klasko, far right, announces the opening of the USF Health Neighborhood Care Center inside the new Sweetbay Supermarket in New Tampa.

“This effort continues our exciting partnership with Sweetbay Supermaket, allowing USF Health to directly impact the health of residents in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel,” said Stephen K. Klasko, CEO of USF Health and Dean of the College of Medicine. “We are excited to bring our commitment to advanced, high-quality healthcare to this growing area in our community.”

Sweetbay’s new store location is 6425 County Line Road, Tampa FL 33647. Store hours are 7 am to 11 pm. Sweetbay operates pharmacies at USF Health's Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare and the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare.

About Sweetbay Supermarket
Sweetbay Supermarket provides a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, built from the ground up and developed from research in core markets to express the vibrant, exciting and diverse tastes, colors and aromas of food important to Floridians. Sweetbay offers outstanding value, quality and variety, routinely partnering with Florida growers, to bring shoppers the freshest food available in the state. Sweetbay Supermarket was launched in November 2004 in Largo and is headquartered in Tampa. Sweetbay has 103 stores in Florida.

About USF Health
USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

- Photos by Susanna Martinez Tarokh, USF Health Communications

The University of South Florida College of Nursing has partnered with Cerner Corporation to add the Academic Education Solution (AES), a fully integrated electronic medical record, to the College’s state-of-the-art human simulation lab. The AES is the only full clinical information system adapted to support academic curricula and classroom instruction. The system will enable students to use an interactive approach to learn evidence-based clinical practices, critical thinking skills, and data-driven decision making.

The USF College of Nursing’s adoption of electronic health records (EHR) into its curriculum and classroom instruction is part of a growing national movement to digitize the medical record-keeping process.

The complexity of care, volume of patients, and rapid growth of healthcare knowledge are beginning to push the physical and intellectual limits of healthcare professionals. Care providers need to quickly understand a patient’s complete past and present health information to apply the latest effective clinical practices for improving or managing the patient’s health. EHRs facilitate better access to this important information.

Improving Health Professionals’ Education

To address this evolution in patient care, the USF College of Nursing recognized the need to improve the methods of educating future healthcare professionals. The College plans to embed the EHR into the health professions’ curricula, as well as use it as a teaching and learning tool. The Academic Education Solution, coupled with the College’s simulation lab, enhances the faculty’s ability to teach the clinical process, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills and making evidence-driven decisions.

“By exposing students to the EHR early in the curriculum we are meeting two goals -- improving students’ healthcare information technology skills and, with that added skill set, increasing the market appeal our nursing graduates to our collaborating partners,” said Dr. Laura Gonzalez, director for the Center of Virtual Simulation at the USF College of Nursing. “New graduates will have had substantial training prior to employment, which will result in cost savings in terms of new hire training expenses.”

Paving the Way for Success

Healthcare technologies are widely recognized as an effective tool to counteract today’s crippling shortage of qualified healthcare providers. The USF College of Nursing’s students embrace technology as part of their education and training process, easing the transition from the academic to the professional setting. This translates into more efficient, confident new nursing graduates in increasingly automated healthcare environments where safety and accountability are driving forces.

- Story by Ashlea Hudak, USF College of Nursing Communications

Tampa, FL (May 5, 2009) -- With summer rapidly approaching, some teens have lined up jobs in fast food restaurants, retail outlets, agricultural and construction sites and other industries.

USF SafetyFlorida, a workplace consultation program for Florida’s small businesses, is offering these enterprising teen workers a website dedicated to helping them remain safe on the job. The online workplace safety course, accessed through www.safeteenjobs.com, was developed under the direction of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Through real-life stories and interactive games, teens will learn how to identify and reduce job hazards and know their rights in the workplace. For example, a teen working in a fast-food restaurant will be given techniques for avoiding burns and other kitchen hazards.

“Teens are highly susceptible to occupational injuries,” said Charlene Vespi, program director of USF SafetyFlorida. “They often lack the knowledge of workplace dangers. Safeteenjobs.com is an important resource for teens in understanding potential hazards and empowering them to make smart decisions while working this summer.”

Upon successful completion of the six-lesson course, participants receive a certificate of completion from USF SafetyFlorida. The cost is $39.95, and group rates are available through the American Safety Council, which hosts the website.

For more information, visit www.safeteenjobs.com

About USF SafetyFlorida
USF SafetyFlorida, headquartered in Tampa and with consultants across the state, is a workplace safety consultation program for Florida’s small businesses. It is funded by OSHA and the State of Florida and is operated as a service of the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. The consultation program offers complimentary, confidential and comprehensive assistance throughout Florida. To help employers profit from a safer workplace, the program identifies workplace hazards, offers solutions for safety and health problems, provides training and education, and assists in creating safety and health management plans. To learn more about the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program or to request a confidential consultation, visit its website at www.usfsafetyflorida.com.

Tampa, FL (April 21, 2009) -- The University of South Florida Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery program has opened an office in Sarasota. The program offers a full range of medical and surgical therapies for women with urogynecological problems, including overactive bladder syndromes, uterine and bowel prolapse, chronic pelvic pain, cystitis, incontinence, recurrent urinary tract infections, and complications related to pelvic floor reconstructive surgery.

Program director Lennox Hoyte, MD, has begun seeing patients monthly at the offices of Physician Care Clinical Research, 1931 South Tuttle Ave, in Sarasota. Patients have access to the latest technology in urodynamics and bowel testing, cystoscopy and ultrasound and MRI imaging, which can help in diagnosing pelvic floor problems. Services include minimally-invasive and traditional surgeries for incontinence and prolapse, InterStim® therapy, an implantable device for difficult-to-treat urinary symptoms, and botox and pelvic floor physical therapy for severe pelvic floor pain syndromes.

Dr. Hoyte is associate professor and medical director of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery at USF Health. He is an attending obstetrician/gynecologist at Tampa General Hospital and specializes in all types of pelvic floor disorders, including childbirth-related injury and pelvic muscle dysfunction. He is skilled in the use of robotic-assisted, minimally invasive procedures to treat prolapse.

Dr. Hoyte received his MD degree from Stanford Medical School and completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospital joint training program. He completed a fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center. He is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist, a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a member of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons.

For more information, please call (941) 957-1365 or go to www.usfurogyn.com

- USF Health -

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

USF surgeons report first laparoendoscopic single-site operation combining hysterectomy, gall bladder removal

Dr. Stuart Hart and Dr. Sharona Ross are among the USF physicians working to advance minimally invasive surgery to the next level.

USF Health surgeons recently removed the uterus and gall bladder of a 37-year-old woman, performing the combined operation through a single entry point – the patient’s belly button. The advanced minimally invasive procedure, known as Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery or LESS, left virtually no scar and the patient went home the next day.

"To the best of our knowledge, this appears to be the first combined single incision procedure involving both a hysterectomy and cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal),” said Stuart Hart, MD, assistant professor in the USF Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The USF surgeons have also successfully performed the first single-incision laparoendoscopic procedure to remove an adrenal gland tumor. They have used single incision laparoendoscopic techniques at Tampa General Hospital to remove the appendix and liver cysts, to repair hernias, and to treat acid reflux disease and achalasia (a disorder of the esophagus).

For the patient, LESS has the cosmetic advantage of virtually no scar since it requires only one tiny laparoscopic incision, typically in the navel, instead of several incisions spaced throughout the abdomen. Physicians say fewer incisions mean quicker recovery time, less pain and less risk for bleeding and infections.

The combined operation was performed in February at TGH. Alexander Rosemurgy, M.D; Sharona Ross, MD; and Kellie McFarlin, MD, all from the USF Health Division of General Surgery; initially removed the patient’s gall bladder. The uterus was then removed by Dr. Hart with the assistance of the General Surgery team. The entire case took approximately three hours.

Multiple instruments were passed through a specially-designed port inserted through the patient's belly button.

The surgeons operated by inserting a specially-designed laparoscopic port and laparoscopic camera to perform the surgical procedure. Since typically several ports are required to pass the laparoscopic instruments into the abdomen to perform the surgery, state-of-the-art instruments were required to make this surgical procedure possible. A specially designed port was placed through the belly button which allowed the surgeons to pass multiple instruments through one incision. The laparoscope, which has a miniaturized digital camera embedded in the tip, transmits high-resolution pictures of internal organs onto a video monitor. Once positioned inside the abdominal cavity, the camera can move in many directions, helping surgeons avoid unnecessary trauma to tissue and nearby vessels.

“With LESS, we can still do a lot of surgery while significantly minimizing the insult of surgery inside and outside the body,” said Dr. Rosemurgy, professor of surgery, associate dean of Simulation and Academic Enrichment at the USF College of Medicine, and surgical director of the Center for Digestive Disorders at TGH.

“Advances in surgical technology, including miniaturization of devices, has helped make all this feasible,” said Dr. Ross, assistant professor of surgery and director of Surgical Endoscopy.

Surgical skills must also adapt and advance to make minimally-invasive techniques even less invasive. “Performing LESS surgery requires advanced laparoscopic skills and represents the new frontier of minimally invasive surgery,” Dr. Ross said. “Laparoscopic surgeons must be trained to operate through a single incision with the scope and instruments working in parallel.”

USF Health physicians from General Surgery and OB/GYN worked together to perform the combined minimally-invasive procedure.

More than 150 surgeons from across the country have come to Tampa General to learn LESS from Dr. Rosemurgy, Dr. Ross and Dr. Michael Albrink. They are developing single-incision surgeries using natural orifices (vagina, anus, mouth) and working with industry leaders to help refine the equipment and tools needed to take minimally invasive surgeries to the next level.

Dr. Hart and Dr. Larry Glazerman, co-directors of USF Center for the Advancement of Minimally Invasive Pelvic Surgery, helped launch the inaugural Advanced Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery Conference at the new USF Health Simulation Center at Tampa General the weekend of March 28-30.

Construction begins on state-of-the-art neonatal nursery

Pam Muma swings a hammer at the NICU wall-breaking ceremony.

The dream of building a world-class neonatal unit for Tampa Bay’s tiniest babies is well on its way to reality.

Donning hardhats and safety glasses, Pam and Les Muma swung their sledgehammers with gusto, creating two big holes in a wall to signal the beginning of construction on the Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Tampa General Hospital. The $35-million project – a tangible sign of the partnership between USF Health and TGH to transform research and care for newborns – will completely redesign and expand Tampa General’s existing neonatal nursery. Construction is expected to be complete in early 2011.

Physicians, nurses and other clinicians, hospital and university officials, and construction team members gathered March 31 on the fourth floor of Tampa General’s West Pavilion for the construction kick-off. They nibbled cookies with pink and blue icing in the shape of baby booties and sipped on non-alcoholic champagne. They reviewed the tabletop model of the 53,000 square-foot unit, which will increase the current NICU from 52 beds grouped in open areas to 82 beds in private rooms and a 12-bed transitional nursery.

The new NICU is being funded in part by the Mumas’ generous $6 million gift to USF Health – a donation in memory of their daughter Jennifer Leigh Muma, who died in a neonatal nursery. Their gift, one of the largest in Florida to support research and care for newborns, has a total impact of $14 million after eligible state and internal USF matches. It supports a USF-TGH initiative to build research and medical teams, laboratories at USF Health and an expanded NICU to advance the care and well-being of premature babies.

In addition, the TGH Foundation capital campaign, “Tiny babies. Big Priority,” has raised more $7.6 million towards the NICU renovation. That includes more than $170,000 brought in by a physician campaign led by Robert Nelson, MD, chair of USF Pediatrics; David Keefe, MD, chair of USF Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Thomas Bernasek, MD, vice chair of the TGH Medical Staff.

Dr. Lewis Rubin, who holds the Pamela S. and Leslie M. Muma Endowed Chair in Neonatology at USF, says the redesigned NICU will be family-centered while employing the latest technology.

“Everyone here today is part of the team that will make this dream happen,” Pam Muma said. “We want to help any family who experiences a situation similar to ours and do all we can to make sure these smallest, sickest children go home healthy.”

“This day is special and there is also an emotional aspect,” Les Muma said. “We wanted our daughter’s name to live on, and she will live on through this.”

Lewis Rubin, MD, who joined USF to fill the Pamela S. and Leslie M. Muma Endowed Chair in Neonatology, said the new NICU has been planned with the latest research on NICU design and environment in mind. Input was solicited from physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, housekeeping staff, traffic engineers, interior designers and focus groups were held with the parents of premature babies to create a place that will be welcoming for families and maximize the comfort and well-being of fragile infants in need of critical care.

“Of the three neonatal intensive care units I’ve helped plan, this one by far has been the best at involving in its design all the people who will be using the space,” said Dr. Rubin, medical director of TGH’s NICU. “The Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will absolutely be a world-class newborn center. It will be baby and family friendly, while taking advantage of the latest technology in telecommunications and bioinformatics.”

Jim Warren, Chairman of the Board of the Florida Health Sciences Center, thanked attendees for the work they do everyday "to take care of this very vulnerable patient population."

The redesigned NICU will join a growing trend in the care of premature babies – private rooms that strive to replicate the relatively quiet, nurturing environment of the mother’s womb and emphasize family-centered care whenever medically possible. Traditionally, NICUs have been modeled around life-saving equipment with isolettes in one big room leaving little privacy for parent-infant bonding or confidential medical discussions.

Evidence is mounting to suggest that premature babies thrive better in private rooms than in group areas with harsher lights, louder noises, more traffic and other excessive stimuli, Dr. Rubin said. The private rooms in the redesigned NICU will include a place for parents to sleep, ambient lighting, and noise kept low enough for babies to recognize parents’ voices. Windows will allow nurses to see into the rooms, and hand-held PDAs will let them monitor infants and communicate with other team members from anywhere in the NICU. At the same time, the unit will incorporate common areas where parents can gather to socialize and support one another, and siblings can play.

L to R: USF Pediatrics Chair Dr. Robert Nelson, Dr. Lewis Rubin, TGH NICU nurse manager Pam Sanders, Dr. Laura Haubner and Dr. Terri Ashmeade look over the construction model.

Since the Mumas’ gift was announced two and a half years ago, USF Health has opened the Lisa Muma Weitz Advanced Microscopy and Cell Imaging Core, a state-of-the-art laboratory with applications for basic and translational research in neonatology, pediatrics and perinatology. USF has also recruited key members of the research and medical team, including Dr. Rubin and recently Michael Fant, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics with research expertise in fetal growth and placental development.

Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine, said the Mumas’ vision and leadership will create a brighter future for premature babies receiving care in the Tampa Bay area. Their gift will help translate research into the best evidence-based treatment for newborns, he said.

"It shows that when a university and a hospital are committed to excellence in education, research and clinical care, they can achieve so much more together than either could do alone,” Dr. Klasko said. “This kind of partnership is what makes communities great.”

Pam and Les Muma's generous gift in memory of their daughter has been a catalyst in the USF-TGH partnership to transform newborn research and care.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baierr, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

See video above. Click here for Photo Gallery.

Tampa, FL (March 2, 2009) – The University of South Florida this week held the grand opening of its comprehensive USF Health Simulation Center at Tampa General Hospital – the only one of its kind in the Southeast, university officials say. The new $1.5-million, 2,800-square-foot facility is expected to draw physicians and other health professionals from across the state and nationally to learn and practice advanced techniques for a wide range of medical procedures and to hone critical clinical decision-making skills – all in a realistic environment without risk to patients.

USF-TGH physicians and nurses and community physicians and healthcare leaders were invited March 2 to 4 to tour the new center and try out the simulators.

The new advanced clinical training center houses more than a half-dozen simulators that mimic the look and feel of minimally-invasive surgical procedures.

The center houses more than $600,000 worth of virtual-reality simulators that mimic the look and feel of actual endovascular and surgical procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, laparoscopic hernia repairs, laparoscopic hysterectomies or colonoscopies. The apprenticeship model of “see one, do one, teach one,” has been stretched by advances in surgical technology and the development of minimally-invasive techniques that spare patients major surgery and shorten recoveries. Computer-based simulation complements traditional training by helping health professionals gain hands-on experience before performing complex procedures or using new devices on real patients in operating rooms and other clinical settings.

“With this new center, USF Health is truly at the forefront of the evolution in clinical and surgical training,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “In partnership with Tampa General Hospital and several of the world’s leading innovators of advanced simulation technology, we have created a center that emphasizes patient safety, reducing medical errors and improving efficiency. All this is directed toward achieving our ultimate goal – better patient care.”

“This collaborative partnership will bring increased prominence to Tampa as one of the major medical centers in the United States committed to the improvement of patient health in a safe clinical environment,” said Ron Hytoff, CEO of Tampa General Hospital.

The USF Health Simulation Center at TGH, available to all healthcare facilities and professionals in Florida, is positioned to have a major impact on the quality of care in the state, said Deborah Sutherland, PhD, associate vice president for Continuing Professional Development at USF Health.

“What makes this center unique in the Southeast is the comprehensive variety of high-end surgical and interventional simulators that can be used by students, residents and practicing healthcare professionals,” Dr. Sutherland said. “This allows for individual training in complex, high-risk procedures and team training for managing challenging patient cases in areas like the cardiac catheterization lab, operating room, critical care and emergency department.”

A growing body of evidence indicates that simulation shortens the learning curve for mastering technical skills and is valuable in measuring how well surgical teams solve problems when confronted with complications such as abnormal bleeding, heart attacks or strokes, or anatomical obstacles. Boards that certify physician specialists have expressed increased interest in using simulation to help assess and maintain the clinical competence of their members.

The Simulation Center also houses a Surgical Skills Laboratory with five fully-equipped stations, where physicians can practice minimally-invasive procedures. In the coming months, the Center plans to open a 4-D Ultrasound Center where physicians can learn the latest real-time imaging technology for diagnosing and assessing pelvic floor disorders such as urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, and vaginal, uterine or bladder prolapse.

USF is working with the following companies in developing the USF Health Simulation Center at Tampa General Hospital: GE Medical Systems, Laerdal, Olympus, Simulab Corp., SimSuite Medical Simulation Corporation, Stryker, Simbionix and VirtaMed.

- About USF Health -

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

-About Tampa General Hospital -

Tampa General is a 958-bed acute care hospital on the west coast of Florida that serves as the region’s only center for level I trauma care, comprehensive burn care and adult solid organ transplants. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida College of Medicine. TGH is also one of only 10 comprehensive stroke centers in Florida and is a state-certified spinal cord and head injury rehabilitation center.

Related stories:

St. Petersburg Times, March 5, 2009, "New USF life-like simulators respond like patients in surgery"

USF Magazine, Winter 2009, "Clinical Practice"

Dr. Larry Glazerman, director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at USF Health, teaches fellow OB-GYN faculty member Dr. Amanda Alvelo-Malina how to use the new hysteroscopic simulator.

The USF Health Simulation Center at Tampa General Hospital recently added a state-of-the-art hysteroscopy simulator to its growing collection of high-fidelity simulators that allow physicians and other health professionals to practice clinical skills in a controlled setting, without risk to patients.

“USF Health now has the only hysteroscopy simulator in North America,” said Deborah Sutherland, PhD, associate vice president for USF Health and associate dean of the Continuing Professional Development Program.

Larry Glazerman, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at USF Health, will use the new VirtaMed HystSim system to help teach hysteroscopic procedures to OB-GYN residents and physicians at USF. He will also train other physicians who come to the USF Health Simulation Center for continuing medical education courses, including the Inaugural Advanced Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery Conference in March. USF Health will collaborate with VirtaMed to conduct validation studies investigating the value of simulation training in improving endoscopic surgical skills.

The VirtaMed HystSim, a comprehensive hands-on training system for hysteroscopy, lets physicians look inside the uterus to diagnose and treat certain problems such as intrauterine fibroids and polyps, adhesions and abnormal bleeding. Hysteroscopy is performed without incisions -- using a thin, lighted tube inserted into the vagina to examine the cervix and inside of the uterus. If diagnostic hysteroscopy detects a problem, the physician may be able to insert small instruments through the hysteroscope to correct the abnormal condition (known as operative hysteroscopy).

The physicians practice removing a fibroid from inside the uterus.

“This simulator allows gynecologists and residents to learn and practice hysteroscopic techniques and receive objective performance feedback before applying these diagnostic and therapeutic techniques to patients,” Dr. Glazerman said.

VirtaMed, a Swiss start-up company with an interdisciplinary background in medicine and engineering, provides medical professionals a state-of-the-art training tool for endoscopic surgery with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of patient care.

When fully equipped this spring, the USF Health Simulation Center will house a comprehensive variety of advanced simulators, including those offering hands-on training for individuals or teams in endovascular, laparoscopic, GI and endourologic procedures. For more information or training on any simulators at the new center, please contact Stephanie McKown, RN, at (813) 844-3436 or Stephanie.Mckown@medsimulation.com.

Dr. Glazerman prepares for the surgical simulator training demonstration as, left to right, Dr. Alvelo-Malina, Stephanie McKown, RN, and Stefan Tuchschmid, CEO for VirtaMed, observe.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications