State-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Center rewarded for its excellence
LAU-CSC, the largest simulation center in Lebanon, achieves international recognition with accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Dr. Abi Raad receives accreditation for Clinical Simulation Center.
On November 1, 2017, LAU’s Clinical Simulation Center (LAU-CSC) received formal notification of accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), reflecting the center’s position as a leading simulation hub in Lebanon and the region. The accreditation is valid for a period of three years commencing January 1, 2018, and ending December 31, 2020.
The achievement, says LAU-CSC’s Director Dr. Vanda Abi Raad, “reflects our center’s ability to provide simulation-based education activities that model the highest administrative, educational, and ethical standards.”
Founded in 2009, and certified by the American Heart Association-International Training Center (AHA-ITC), LAU-CSC is the largest such facility in Lebanon, covering 900 square meters in the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury Health Sciences Center at LAU Byblos Campus.
The center houses a large array of simulators — ranging from low-fidelity task trainers to high-fidelity computerized mannequins —that allow learners in various healthcare fields to apply their skills and engage in educational role play while guaranteeing patient safety in an interprofessional environment.
All three LAU health sciences schools ― Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing — as well as the nutrition program within the School of Arts & Sciences have pioneered the integration of simulation technology into their curricula, as a bridge between classroom learning and practice in a clinical setting involving live patients. Over the years, the center has expanded to provide a host of training opportunities — from practical workshops and American Heart Association courses to major international conferences, among others — for healthcare practitioners outside LAU, with a large percentage of services currently being offered to non-LAU constituents.
The rigorous accreditation process involved the submission of a letter of intent, rigid self-evaluation, on-site assessment by a team from the RCPSC, and a final decision rendered a year and a half after the submission of the letter of intent.
“The on-site visit lasted two days,” explains Abi Raad, “and was comprised of a series of interviews with key stakeholders, including the dean of the School of Medicine, simulation program director, administrative staff, planning committee members, faculty and learners who have participated in various activities” at LAU-CSC.
Highly impressed, auditor Linda Crelinsten, former assistant director of the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning at McGill University in Montreal, congratulated the center for creating a “terrific team and a culture of learning.” Her colleague Dr. Susan Brien, director of simulation-based education and practice, performance and innovation at RCPSC, and adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Ottawa, also remarked on the “most extraordinary accomplishment of a respectful learning environment.”
The final accreditation report emphasized “the strengths of LAU-CSC as including strong support from students, faculty and university administration; exceptional leadership provided by a knowledgeable, enthusiastic director; a keen sense of teamwork; staff and faculty commitment to educational growth; and the center’s focus on interprofessional education.”
Commenting on the successful accreditation process, Dr. Michel Mawad, dean of LAU’s Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine remarked: “This successful accreditation is a true testimony to the diligent and hard work of Dr. Abi Raad and her team in putting together a state-of-the-art medical simulation center which is unique in the region and is a real feather in our cap.”
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