With Zoom and similar platforms having become such a large part of our lives during COVID, it’s hard to remember that remote virtual education hasn’t been with us forever.
But Dr. Allan Okrainec and the University Health Network were pioneering the use of such technology to teach surgeons advanced skills via tele-simulation.
Okrainec, who specializes in laparoscopic surgery, is now the director of a brand-new facility that will allow surgeons and other medical learners to develop and practice skills remotely, but also to do so on site, using cutting-edge surgical simulators. (He’s also head of the Division of Surgery at UHN.)
You can read more about the new, 12,500 square foot Temerty Advanced Surgical Education and Telesimulation Centre in this piece I wrote for Sprott Surgery Magazine (produced by ALLCAPS Content): ‘21st Century Teaching Tools‘.
My heartfelt thanks to the interviewees who so generously shared their time:
- Dr. Laura Donahoe a thoracic and transplant surgeon with the Sprott Department of Surgery, and the Ajmera Transplant Centre, which are both part of the University Health Network in Toronto.
- Dr. Allan Okrainec, Director of the Temerity Advanced Surgical Education and Simulation Centre, in the University Health Network’s Sprott Department of Surgery in Toronto, Ont.