Simulation Teaching and Research (STAR) Center

Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect — Vince Lombardi

Simulation education is a bridge between classroom learning and real-life clinical experience. The Simulation Teaching and Research Center (STAR) is a comprehensive simulation training environment for our students, residents, fellows, and faculty. For over a decade the STAR Center has worked to enhance educational opportunities, improve patient care, and disseminate research focused on simulation-based education and patient safety. The STAR Center, which is part of the Department of Emergency Medicine, also offers programs for nursing, critical care fellows and faculty, OB/GYN, pediatrics, family medicine, and many others throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.

As the official simulation center for the Icahn School of Medicine, the STAR Center is proud to engage medical students during all four years of their curriculum. In the first two years of medical school, medical students utilize simulation during their Art and Science of Medicine (ASM) courses. Throughout medical school the InFocus sessions offer additional opportunities to be engaged with the STAR Center programs. As students become more advanced and begin their clerkship experiences, they return to the STAR Center for more in-depth training on clinical skills and procedures. Finally, elective options are offered through the Department of Emergency Medicine that rely heavily on the STAR Center, including the EKG elective and the NEXUS program.

Mount Sinai EM Residents participate in simulation at both the STAR Center and the Elmhurst Simulation Center. Regardless of the site of training, simulation education recreates an intense environment that often challenges the boundaries of the traditional learning experience. Our learners are fully engaged in their simulation experiences and constantly challenged intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

Residents are exposed to clinical skills training, such as central line placement, intubation, IO insertion, and use of the defibrillator as well as clinically challenging scenarios in which they must not only diagnose and treat the simulated patient but also engage with actors portraying family members.

The STAR Center Fellowship in medical simulation at ISMMS is a unique two-year experience. Through a combination of simulation education, medical education, and emergency medicine education focused programs, we have created a unique opportunity for our simulation fellows to learn with, from, and about all aspects of education. Simulation fellows play an active role in the education of medical students, residents, faculty, and inter-professional teams and also complete academic course work in Medical Education.

The STAR Center is utilized by departments across the Mount Sinai Health System. Some examples of programs include:

  • Critical Care Fellows Education
  • Critical Care Advanced Practice Provider Education
  • OBGYN Resident Education
  • Pediatric Resident Education
  • Family Medicine Resident Education
  • ED Nursing Fellowship Training
  • Emergency Medicine PA Education
  • Faculty Development series for EM, Critical Care, and Pediatrics
  • Mount Sinai Queens Simulation Partnership
  • In-Situ Process Improvement Program, focused on resuscitation, patient flow, and patient experience

Services Available

The STAR Center offers boutique educational consultancy services for the Mount Sinai Health System and others. We are available to help produce educational content including but not limited to, videos, online educational content, lectures, immersive learning experiences, and simulations. In addition, the STAR Center is an ideal location for TV, Movies, and media outlets and offers expert medical consultation for the entertainment industry.

Reserving the STAR Center

The STAR Center is available for both internal and external uses.

Please contact Michael Norris (Michael.Norris@mountsinai.org) to discuss reserving the STAR Center for your next educational program.