VirtuOHSU Simulation and Surgical Training Center (VSSTC)
The core mission for the VirtuOHSU Simulation and Surgical Training Center is to provide outstanding leadership in education and training opportunities in surgical skills and simulation. Additionally, it is also to serve all simulation interests related to surgical and procedural education, research, faculty development, interdisciplinary opportunities, and community outreach.
VSSTC serves the entire continuum of health professionals, trainees, students, and researchers at OHSU. This highly versatile space supports open, laparoscopic, endoscopic, and microscopic technical skills training using task trainers, virtual reality, synthetic, animal, and cadaveric tissues. VSSTC is also the home of all gross anatomy coursework at OHSU for the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, and School of Nursing.
Inside the 7,500 square-foot VirtuOHSU Simulation and Surgical Training Center:
- Amphitheater: 70 seat amphitheater with full AV and conferencing capabilities
- Lab A: 2 surgical scrub sinks and 16 table anatomy dissection lab or 8 station simulated OR (able to flex between 8 or 10 with Lab B)
- Lab B: 2 station simulated OR (able to flex to become part of 10)
- Lab C: Microsurgery suite with 8 Ziess microscopes
- Classroom: 18-24 seat classroom with SMART board
- MIS Training Suite: 10 laparoscopy stations, 1 laparoscopic VR simulator, 1 endoscopic/bronchoscopic VR simulator, and 1 da Vinci Robot VR simulator
VirtuOHSU Staff
Medical Director: Renee Dversdal, M.D., FACP, FAIUM
Operations Director: Elena An, M.S., HCA
Associate Director of Operations: Jesika Gavilanes, M.A.
Simulation Operations Specialist: Traci Schaller
Simulation Operations Specialist: Denis An
Simulation Operations Specialist: Laura Le
Simulation Operations Specialist: Nicole Desmarais
Faculty Instructors at VirtuOHSU
Several faculty members from a variety of OHSU Departments are instructors for VirtuOHSU.
Dr. Karen Brasel, Professor of Surgery, is the General Surgery Residency Program Director, VirtuOHSU Education Director, and a practicing trauma and critical care surgeon at OHSU. Dr. Brasel is an instructor for the VirtuOHSU open skills labs.
Dr. Donn Spight, Associate Professor of Surgery, is the OHSU Simulation Medical Director and minimally invasive surgeon for the Portland VA Medical Center (PVAMC) as well as OHSU. He completed a minimally invasive surgery fellowship at OHSU in 2006 and joined the OHSU Dept. of Surgery faculty following his fellowship.
Dr. Erin Gilbert, Associate Professor of Surgery, is the VirtuOHSU Associate Medical Director. Dr. Gilbert completed a minimally invasive surgery fellowship at OHSU in 2012. Dr. Gilbert is the co-instructor for laparoscopy skills labs in VirtuOHSU
Dr. Paul Schipper, Professor of Surgery, is a thoracic surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at OHSU and the Program Director for the Thoracic Surgery Fellowship. Dr. Schipper is the instructor for the general surgery residency's thoracic skills labs and the thoracic surgery fellowship's cardiothoracic skills labs.
Dr. Kim Lu, Associate Professor of Surgery, is a Board Certified Colon and Rectal surgeon in the General Surgery Department. Dr. Lu is the VirtuOHSU instructor for endoscopy/colonoscopy skills labs.
Dr. Meg O'Reilly, Associate Professor, is an Obstetrician Gynecologist and an instructor for OBGYN surgical skills labs in VirtuOHSU.
Dr. Jacqueline Brady, Assistant Professor, is an orthopaedic surgeon at OHSU who specializes in the care of patients with sports injuries, especially involving the knee and shoulder. She treats injuries of the bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, joints, and other connective tissue. Dr. Brady is the lead instructor for all orthopaedic surgical skills labs in VirtuOHSU.
Dr. Jeremy Ciporen, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, is a fellowship-trained skull base &cerebrovascular neurosurgeon and the Director of Surgical Neuro-oncology at OHSU. Dr. Ciporen is the faculty lead for all neurosurgery skills labs in VirtuOHSU and an active researcher in neurosurgery simulation.
Dr. Enjae Jung, Assistant Professor, is a vascular surgeon and the Department of Surgery Clerkship Director for the medical students. In this role, Dr. Jung is the lead instructor for the Surgery 730 medical student skills labs.
Dr. Karen Kwong, Associate Professor, is an Associate Program Director of the OHSU general surgery residency and the OHSU Global Surgery Director. She maintains a clinical appointment and is Chief of General Surgery at the Portland VA Medical Center (PVAMC). Along with teaching the Ethics, Communication, and Professionalism skills lab, Dr. Kwong also is the Chair of the Clinical Competency Committee which enacts the General Surgery Milestones.