Visiting Student Researcher Profiles

Romy Bouwmeester

Medical Student, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Validation of a Neonatal Intubation Scoring Instrument

Profile by Romy Bouwmeester

As a medical student at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, it is obligatory to do a research internship to obtain your master’s degree.  Whereas most students decide not to go abroad, I wanted to take this opportunity to develop more than just research skills.  After a conversation with Rosa Geurtzen (who previously completed a student research internship at CAPE) I learned that there would probably not be a better place to achieve this than at CAPE. With its enormous expertise in simulation-based training and research, highly experienced personnel and necessary technologies, CAPE is the perfect place to facilitate (international) medical research in the simulated setting. 

From January until June 2016, CAPE gave me the opportunity to perform my research under the supervision of Nicole Yamada, M.D., Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Associate Director, CAPE.  After the development of a Neonatal intubation Scoring Instrument, the aim of this study was to validate this particular tool through the use of simulated neonatal elective intubations.  Besides completing my own research, I attended every training program and even played a role in other research studies that were conducted at CAPE during this time.  In those four months, I learned more than I could ever imagine.  Not only was I able to develop essential research skills, but I also developed technical and cognitive skills by practicing resuscitation during simulated clinical events. My experience at CAPE will be of great value during my future medical career! 

 

Lise Brogaard, MD

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Horsens Regional Hospital, Denmark.  PhD-Fellow, Aarhus University

Team OBS

Profile by Lise Brogaard

I am registrar in the speciality of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Horsens Regional Hospital, Denmark.  I am an educated instructor and have a passion for simulation-based training in the obstetric field.  I combined my specialist clinical training in Obstetric and Gynecology (5 years) with a PhD-granting research fellowship in Aarhus University's graduate program  (3 years).  The objective of my PhD is to describe the non-technical skills necessary for high performance during obstetric emergencies.  I use video recordings of teams as they perform during simulated as well in actual patient care events. 

I have been thrilled with my stay at CAPE.  Since the first day, everyone I met has been very friendly and helpful.  I have taken the Simulation Instructor Program at CAPE and followed their training in obstetrics in both the simulation center as well as in the hospital.  I have had a great time and I will return to Denmark with new inspiration to continue my work in simulation-based training and research.  

 

Anne de Veer & Yvet Benthem

Medical Students, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands

Advancing Pediatric Life Support through Peer-Led Debriefings

Profile by Anne de Veer and Yvet Benthem

For us, CAPE is the perfect place to conduct our medical research internship since the simulation center is so advanced. As medical students from the Netherlands, we were appointed as Visiting Student Researchers for three months at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. The last part of medical school in the Netherlands means conducting scientific research and we have the opportunity to do this at CAPE!

Our current research is focused on how to best educate medical students in pediatric Basic Life Support (BLS). We hypothesize that the confidence of medical students to perform BLS will improve when the debriefing is led by peers compared to the use of standardized video instructional debriefing. The outcome of the research will help inform the medical education community on the best methods for debriefing during simulation-based training. Our research is a great opportunity for first year medical students to experience a simulation center and practice hands-on skills in BLS.

Ninke Schrijvers

Medical Student, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands

Improving Prenatal Counseling

Profile by Ninke Schrijvers

From March until June of 2014, I was given the opportunity in my last year of medical school in The Netherlands to broaden my horizons at CAPE.  My experience as a Visiting Student Researcher has led to two unique learning experiences. The first experience was the possibility to conduct research at a renowned university; the second was getting involved in the regular simulation programs going on at one of the leading simulation centers in the world.

My research focuses on what experienced parents and professionals think of the prenatal counseling that is being given at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and El Camino Hospital when a baby is expected to be delivered at a gestational age of 23 or 24 weeks. More specifically, I have conducted questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with parents and professionals to look at the content and style of counseling, and the decision-making process. This study builds on an earlier study by Rosa Geurtzen, conducted at CAPE, where prenatal counseling was simulated in both the United States and the Netherlands to look at intercultural differences. My research has shown several interesting differences and similarities between parents and professionals in the United States, and between American and Dutch professionals.

In addition to my research, being at CAPE has helped me develop numerous skills in simulation, scenario design, and debriefing. And as a bonus, I got to practice my neonatal resuscitation skills. It has been an amazing experience!

Rosa Geurtzen

Medical Student, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands

Improving Prenatal Counseling

Profile by Rosa Geurtzen

In 2010 I was the first student from the Radboud University Medical Center (Nijmegen) visiting CAPE at Stanford University. I was very pleased with the warm welcome received.  I designed my research proposal with the help of doctors Louis Halamek, Ritu Chitkara and Anand Rajani.  Utilizing the amazing simulation capabilities at CAPE we have, I investigated in a real-life setting, how prenatal counseling was conducted at extreme prematurity. By repeating this in the Netherlands, we were able to compare prenatal counseling between two cultures. On the other hand this experience also gave unique insight into the use of simulation as a research method.  It was a meaningful period in my career.  I learned so much by the CAPE team and was always welcome to join any simulation training from Stanford and Lucile Packard's healthcare providers.

My experience at CAPE helped me to get in pediatrics residency and I started my PhD on prenatal counseling. I also started to collaborate in other projects with Dr Halamek and other successors (Ninke Schrijvers).