Center for Simulation Technology and Academic Research (CSTAR)
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare operates two fully equipped Simulation Centers focused primarily on Patient Safety and Patient Care,
facilitating a variety of training goals including effective communicaitons.
Under the direction of John Vozenilek, M.D., five key personnel contribute to the ongoing success of the Simulation Centers at Evanston Northwestern and Highland Park Hospitals.
Pamela Aitchison, a nurse at both hospitals, is the coordinator for the Simulation Centers. In her capacity as Coordinator, Ms.
Aitchison is responsible for organizing the training courses and corresponding materials for each session. Alongside Ms. Aitchison,
Karen McCormick, a nurse at Highland Park Hospital, serves as a part time coordinator assisting in the training sessions held at the
Highland Park Simulation Center. Two full time and one part time simulation technicians operate in conjunction with the coordinators
during the training sessions. A part time Information Systems consultant develops cutting edge software to maximize the educational
capabilities of the training sessions and to allow academic institutions around the country to review results of the training sessions
at the Simulation Centers through a national repository.
The Evanston Simulation Center occupies 1600 square feet, is equipped with
an ultrasound simulator, two adult mannequin simulators and one pediatric mannequin simulator. The center at Highland Park is
approximately 4000 square feet with a variety of adult and pediatric mannequin and task oriented simulators. When necessary, the
Simulation Centers may combine departmental resources to provide the optimal educational experience for attendees. Both facilities
have conference centers outfitted with audiovisual recording equipment to foster discussions of training session experiences.
All medical students attending Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Emergency Medicine students are required to
attend a simulation training session. These training sessions are held once monthly for Northwestern students and twice monthly for
the Emergency Medicine students. During these sessions, students are exposed to a series of cases they typically would not encounter
in their normal course of studies.
The Nursing Departments at both Evanston and Highland Park Hospitals collaborate with the Nursing Education Departments to afford
students the opportunity to participate in the simulation experience. Specifically, nurses are trained under the hospitals’ standardized
communication method SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendations), which facilitates communications between nurse and
physician of unexpected events in the Emergency Room.
Currently there are two ongoing federally funded projects at the Simulation Centers: The Pediatric Project, funded by EMSC through
HRSA focuses on the care of critically ill children. AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) is a patient safety simulation
based intervention instrument which enables a safer hand off by physicians when change of shift occur.
The Evanston and Highland Park Simulation Centers operate under numerous funding resources. Aside from Federal Grants (Pediatric and
AHRQ are federally funded), the Simulation Centers receive funds from the state of Illinois, the Highland Park Foundation for the Highland
Park Simulation Center (Ms. McCormick’s position is fully funded by Highland Park Hospital) as well as internal funding from the hospitals
(SBAR is fully funded by the hospital Nursing Departments).
As well as functioning as Director of the Evanston and Highland Park Simulation Centers, Dr. Vozenilek serves as Associate Editor of the
Association of American Medical Colleges MedEdPORTAL and as Medical Director for the Chicago testing center for Part 2 CS of the United
States Medical Licensure Exam (since 2003).