May 31, 2023 • 9 mins
Avkin was started by a Amy Cowperthwait, a nurse simulationist at the University of Delaware who saw the need for a better way to educate her students. She went to the engineering department with an idea to develop a wearable tracheostomy prototype.
After other companies would not license the technology, Avkin submitted a poster at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) winning first prize for innovation and technology at the conference. It was then the team decided to start their own company designing and manufacturing wearable simulators. These simulators allow the learner to be fully immersed in simulation, practicing challenging conversations as well as the necessary healthcare skill.
Avkin has grown exponentially over the years, expanding product lines beyond wearable simulators and into standardized patient methodology and consulting.
Avkin founder and CEO Amy Cowperthwait continues to be recognized as a leader and innovator in healthcare simulation and education. Most recently, she was recognized with the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator – Advanced (CHSE-A) designation, one of just 83 professionals in the world to achieve such an honor.
Cowperthwait also was recognized at the University of Delaware’s inaugural WE Hatch Honor Circle. Honorees chosen are women who inspired others with ingenuity, passion, innovation, and persistence.
After other companies would not license the technology, Avkin submitted a poster at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) winning first prize for innovation and technology at the conference. It was then the team decided to start their own company designing and manufacturing wearable simulators. These simulators allow the learner to be fully immersed in simulation, practicing challenging conversations as well as the necessary healthcare skill.
Avkin has grown exponentially over the years, expanding product lines beyond wearable simulators and into standardized patient methodology and consulting.
Avkin founder and CEO Amy Cowperthwait continues to be recognized as a leader and innovator in healthcare simulation and education. Most recently, she was recognized with the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator – Advanced (CHSE-A) designation, one of just 83 professionals in the world to achieve such an honor.
Cowperthwait also was recognized at the University of Delaware’s inaugural WE Hatch Honor Circle. Honorees chosen are women who inspired others with ingenuity, passion, innovation, and persistence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Lorraine Ballad Wild with CEOs youshould know, brought to you by Comcast
Business. My name is Amy Calperthwaite. I'm the CEO of Avkin Incorporated.
We incorporated in twenty fifteen and thenreally launched our first product in twenty sixteen.
Describe your company and its mission.Avkin is a company that sells wearable
simulators and nursing education, and thatis for undergraduate pre licensure or as well
(00:24):
as post licensure. And the ideais that when they're practicing on learning how
to do different procedures or different interactions, that they are practicing on a live
person using these wearable simulators to createthat truly authentic experience in simulation education.
The idea behind the company was reallyfor me. I always say I'm the
(00:45):
world's least likely CEO because I didn'thave a desire to run a business or
to start a business, but Iwanted to make a healthcare education better,
specifically for nursing students. I wasteaching at the University of Delaware, and
I knew there was a better wayto teach them rather than them interacting with
plastic dolls that were representations of humans. And practicing some of the more intricate
(01:07):
procedures that we do as nurses andmore sensitive procedures. I wanted them to
interact with real humans. But theidea of having you being the patient and
being the first time for anyone isuncomfortable. Nobody wants that we know that
there's patient safety initiatives out there toreally make sure that our patients are the
safest they can be. So Ibegan to embark on a journey where I
(01:32):
trained standardized patients, which are actorsthat are representing a patient presentation. But
the impetus for the company was reallyI wanted to be able to make these
standardized patients sicker without actually cutting holesin their neck or sticking them repeatedly with
needles. So the wearable simulators thatwe create are overlays that represent the physiology
of a person who is more illand in need of medical care, but
(01:55):
is probably needing an invasive procedure.But that standardized patient can wear that overlay,
or that wearable simulator is what wecall them. They can represent a
patient, let's say, with atrichyostomy they can't speak, or a woman
giving birth, So it really allowsthe representation of the real thing. Because
I'm a nurse, a lot ofthe development and engineering that went into the
(02:17):
products is as close to the physiologyas possible. Our mission is to bring
simulation to life. So simulation isthe idea of training people with hands on
care without having to do it ona real patient for the first time.
I wonder if you could dig downa little more in detail about how does
(02:37):
that look exactly? So you havea person and you have this overlay,
what does the overlay look like?Yeah, it looks exactly like it should
look. In other words, ifit is a trichyostomy, which is a
tube coming out of the neck,it would be a chest piece, a
silicone chest piece with the actual tubethat they would use in the hospital coming
(02:58):
out of the patient's neck where theywould need to have, you know,
oxygen given and suctioning done and thingsalong those lines. It also has things
like long sounds inside of it.If you think of the A birth,
which is the other we have ninetotal products, but the other one,
the F birth, it actually hasa cervix. It actually has a way
for the baby to be delivered witha servix dilation of four centimeters so that
(03:22):
the actual head of the baby dilatesthat silicone servex and makes it feel like
the real thing as close to thereal thing as it possibly can be.
But the patient isn't being harmed.And all of our products have sensors inside,
so if based off of the carethat's being provided, the patient can
respond that they feel better depending onthe care, or maybe they're going to
(03:45):
cough because of something that's being done, but those sensors alert the sp at
the appropriate times to react and respondto the care that's being provided. Wow,
So that sounds like it's kind ofrevolutionized the way that nurses can be
trained. Yes, it absolutely has. And yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity
(04:05):
to actually speak to one of ourcustomers and they talked about the fact that
they utilized one of our products.And then the nursing student went in to
do her clinical practice and found thatthere was an error that was being done
for this patient and the patient wasdeteriorating. Corrected that error, and because
of our products, knew how tocorrect the error and also recovered that patient
(04:29):
to being much more in a homeostasis. As far as this physiology, it
had a collapsed long and the fluidwas just building up inside the lung because
the chest tube drainage system wasn't workingcorrectly, and when she hooked it up
correctly, half of a leader offluid came out of his chest wall.
So those types of things. It'sall about patient safety. It's all about
patient care, and it's about providinga great educational experience for our healthcare providers
(04:54):
into that are currently practicing, butalso mostly focusing on the novices that are
just entering into practice or getting readyto. You had told me off Mike
that you never really had pictured yourselfas being a CEO. Yes, And
I wonder if you can talk moreabout how that journey evolved for you.
I worked at the University of Delaware. I created these products as an idea
(05:18):
or a concept. It was aprototype, and I was sure that one
of these companies that sell the mannequinswas going to take this technology and run
with it. And I didn't understandanything about licensing. I didn't understand anything
about starting a business. The universityapproached me about starting a business because it
was something that they were patenting,but I just absolutely flatly refused. But
(05:39):
when we couldn't get a mannequin companyexcited or interested in licensing the technology.
I began to seek out wisdom fromleadership within the industry, and they basically
said, if you want to getthis product out, you're going to have
to do it yourself, because sometimescompanies will buy the licensing of the product
and shelve it just to make surethat it doesn't get out because it as
(06:00):
a potential competitor. When I learnedthat that is a potential option, I
just not just me because I havea team of people, but that our
small ragtag team decided that it wasit was time for us to figure out
what it was going to take inorder to start a company. So that's
when we really dug in. Whathave you learned in your journey from someone
with a great idea to being theCEO of a company. What I've learned
(06:23):
in my journey to become a CEOis it is a lot harder than you
think it is. I always likenit because I was in academia for so
many years. I liken it tothe idea of getting your PhD. You
have to love it so much becauseyou eat it, drink it, breathe
it, think about it all thetime. The journey is amazing. I
(06:45):
have grown so much personally and professionally. But I think the biggest thing for
me is that I don't know howmultipreneurs do it, because if you're not
incredibly passionate about what you're doing andfully believing one and taking something forward,
I don't know how you have thestamina to continue to move forward. Do
(07:06):
you support any specific any philanthropic causesas far as support, we support all
of the associations that are in theUnited States and they are associated with simulation
education, so we support them throughwebinars and content for them. We also
attend the conferences and pay the exhibitorfees. We really again support their best
(07:30):
practices teaching and learning and things alongthose lines. What was your very first
job that's not on your resume andwhat did you learn from that experience?
So my very first job that wasnot on my resume was that I worked
at a fast food chain called RoyRogers. And I can remember I was
(07:51):
sixteen years old, and I canremember being very frustrated one day and telling
my father that I just wanted toquit, and he said to me,
don't burn your bridges, And Ididn't know what that meant at the time,
so I asked him that phrase isstuck with me. That you're always
to leave with a good taste inyour mouth, that you're always to make
sure that you're fulfilling your responsibilities andwhat you've promised, and that you are
(08:16):
not just emotionally reacting to something that'shappening in the immediacy. Takes some time
to think about it and make sureyou're doing the right thing. If people
want more information about Avkin, wheredo they go? If people want more
information about Avkin, they can reachout to us on our website. We
do have an opportunity to enter informationthere as well as social media. We're
very active on LinkedIn and Facebook.The website is www dot Avkin dot com.
(08:41):
This episode is brought to you byComcast Business. Whatever your day brings,
will help you handle with reliable gigspeeds and advanced cybersecurity solutions. Every
day in business is a big day. Comcast Business will keep you ready for
what's next. Comcast Business Powering Possibilitiesrestrictions apply. Actual speed varry call for details
I'm Lorraine Ballad Wild with CEOs youshould know, brought to you by Comcast
Business. My name is Amy Calperthwaite. I'm the CEO of Avkin Incorporated.
We incorporated in twenty fifteen and thenreally launched our first product in twenty sixteen.
Describe your company and its mission.Avkin is a company that sells wearable
simulators and nursing education, and thatis for undergraduate pre licensure or as well
(00:24):
as post licensure. And the ideais that when they're practicing on learning how
to do different procedures or different interactions, that they are practicing on a live
person using these wearable simulators to createthat truly authentic experience in simulation education.
The idea behind the company was reallyfor me. I always say I'm the
(00:45):
world's least likely CEO because I didn'thave a desire to run a business or
to start a business, but Iwanted to make a healthcare education better,
specifically for nursing students. I wasteaching at the University of Delaware, and
I knew there was a better wayto teach them rather than them interacting with
plastic dolls that were representations of humans. And practicing some of the more intricate
(01:07):
procedures that we do as nurses andmore sensitive procedures. I wanted them to
interact with real humans. But theidea of having you being the patient and
being the first time for anyone isuncomfortable. Nobody wants that we know that
there's patient safety initiatives out there toreally make sure that our patients are the
safest they can be. So Ibegan to embark on a journey where I
(01:32):
trained standardized patients, which are actorsthat are representing a patient presentation. But
the impetus for the company was reallyI wanted to be able to make these
standardized patients sicker without actually cutting holesin their neck or sticking them repeatedly with
needles. So the wearable simulators thatwe create are overlays that represent the physiology
of a person who is more illand in need of medical care, but
(01:55):
is probably needing an invasive procedure.But that standardized patient can wear that overlay,
or that wearable simulator is what wecall them. They can represent a
patient, let's say, with atrichyostomy they can't speak, or a woman
giving birth, So it really allowsthe representation of the real thing. Because
I'm a nurse, a lot ofthe development and engineering that went into the
(02:17):
products is as close to the physiologyas possible. Our mission is to bring
simulation to life. So simulation isthe idea of training people with hands on
care without having to do it ona real patient for the first time.
I wonder if you could dig downa little more in detail about how does
(02:37):
that look exactly? So you havea person and you have this overlay,
what does the overlay look like?Yeah, it looks exactly like it should
look. In other words, ifit is a trichyostomy, which is a
tube coming out of the neck,it would be a chest piece, a
silicone chest piece with the actual tubethat they would use in the hospital coming
(02:58):
out of the patient's neck where theywould need to have, you know,
oxygen given and suctioning done and thingsalong those lines. It also has things
like long sounds inside of it.If you think of the A birth,
which is the other we have ninetotal products, but the other one,
the F birth, it actually hasa cervix. It actually has a way
for the baby to be delivered witha servix dilation of four centimeters so that
(03:22):
the actual head of the baby dilatesthat silicone servex and makes it feel like
the real thing as close to thereal thing as it possibly can be.
But the patient isn't being harmed.And all of our products have sensors inside,
so if based off of the carethat's being provided, the patient can
respond that they feel better depending onthe care, or maybe they're going to
(03:45):
cough because of something that's being done, but those sensors alert the sp at
the appropriate times to react and respondto the care that's being provided. Wow,
So that sounds like it's kind ofrevolutionized the way that nurses can be
trained. Yes, it absolutely has. And yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity
(04:05):
to actually speak to one of ourcustomers and they talked about the fact that
they utilized one of our products.And then the nursing student went in to
do her clinical practice and found thatthere was an error that was being done
for this patient and the patient wasdeteriorating. Corrected that error, and because
of our products, knew how tocorrect the error and also recovered that patient
(04:29):
to being much more in a homeostasis. As far as this physiology, it
had a collapsed long and the fluidwas just building up inside the lung because
the chest tube drainage system wasn't workingcorrectly, and when she hooked it up
correctly, half of a leader offluid came out of his chest wall.
So those types of things. It'sall about patient safety. It's all about
patient care, and it's about providinga great educational experience for our healthcare providers
(04:54):
into that are currently practicing, butalso mostly focusing on the novices that are
just entering into practice or getting readyto. You had told me off Mike
that you never really had pictured yourselfas being a CEO. Yes, And
I wonder if you can talk moreabout how that journey evolved for you.
I worked at the University of Delaware. I created these products as an idea
(05:18):
or a concept. It was aprototype, and I was sure that one
of these companies that sell the mannequinswas going to take this technology and run
with it. And I didn't understandanything about licensing. I didn't understand anything
about starting a business. The universityapproached me about starting a business because it
was something that they were patenting,but I just absolutely flatly refused. But
(05:39):
when we couldn't get a mannequin companyexcited or interested in licensing the technology.
I began to seek out wisdom fromleadership within the industry, and they basically
said, if you want to getthis product out, you're going to have
to do it yourself, because sometimescompanies will buy the licensing of the product
and shelve it just to make surethat it doesn't get out because it as
(06:00):
a potential competitor. When I learnedthat that is a potential option, I
just not just me because I havea team of people, but that our
small ragtag team decided that it wasit was time for us to figure out
what it was going to take inorder to start a company. So that's
when we really dug in. Whathave you learned in your journey from someone
with a great idea to being theCEO of a company. What I've learned
(06:23):
in my journey to become a CEOis it is a lot harder than you
think it is. I always likenit because I was in academia for so
many years. I liken it tothe idea of getting your PhD. You
have to love it so much becauseyou eat it, drink it, breathe
it, think about it all thetime. The journey is amazing. I
(06:45):
have grown so much personally and professionally. But I think the biggest thing for
me is that I don't know howmultipreneurs do it, because if you're not
incredibly passionate about what you're doing andfully believing one and taking something forward,
I don't know how you have thestamina to continue to move forward. Do
(07:06):
you support any specific any philanthropic causesas far as support, we support all
of the associations that are in theUnited States and they are associated with simulation
education, so we support them throughwebinars and content for them. We also
attend the conferences and pay the exhibitorfees. We really again support their best
(07:30):
practices teaching and learning and things alongthose lines. What was your very first
job that's not on your resume andwhat did you learn from that experience?
So my very first job that wasnot on my resume was that I worked
at a fast food chain called RoyRogers. And I can remember I was
(07:51):
sixteen years old, and I canremember being very frustrated one day and telling
my father that I just wanted toquit, and he said to me,
don't burn your bridges, And Ididn't know what that meant at the time,
so I asked him that phrase isstuck with me. That you're always
to leave with a good taste inyour mouth, that you're always to make
sure that you're fulfilling your responsibilities andwhat you've promised, and that you are
(08:16):
not just emotionally reacting to something that'shappening in the immediacy. Takes some time
to think about it and make sureyou're doing the right thing. If people
want more information about Avkin, wheredo they go? If people want more
information about Avkin, they can reachout to us on our website. We
do have an opportunity to enter informationthere as well as social media. We're
very active on LinkedIn and Facebook.The website is www dot Avkin dot com.
(08:41):
This episode is brought to you byComcast Business. Whatever your day brings,
will help you handle with reliable gigspeeds and advanced cybersecurity solutions. Every
day in business is a big day. Comcast Business will keep you ready for
what's next. Comcast Business Powering Possibilitiesrestrictions apply. Actual speed varry call for details
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