January 20, 2025 • 26 mins
Prepare to be enlightened as we transition to the dynamic world of simulation education with Lou and Kathy from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE). Uncover how ASPE is transforming the field by evolving the concept of "standardized patients" to "simulated participants," promoting inclusivity and personalization. With ambitious plans for 2025, including a program accreditation and a collaborative editorial, ASPE is setting a new benchmark for simulation education. Their upcoming conference in Montreal, featuring a Human Simulation Research Forum, highlights their dedication to innovation. Kathy underscores the importance of updated standards and equitable job classification to elevate the simulation profession, showcasing the diverse and growing applications of this educational approach.
What does it take to transform a garage-based startup into a leading force in the medical supply industry? Join us as Dan Micik, founder of Medical Shipment, shares his remarkable journey and the pivotal role his company plays in the healthcare landscape. From exclusive contracts with BD for the Pixis medication management systems that are used in 60% of hospitals to providing innovative educational tools that minimize medication errors in training environments, Dan offers a fascinating glimpse into the business. We also explore the philanthropic side of Medical Shipment with events like their beloved puppy lounge at Naxal, blending business success with community goodwill.
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Welcome to the Sim Cafe, apodcast produced by the team at
Innovative Sim Solutions, editedby Shelly Houser.
Join our host, deb Tauber, andco-host, Jerrod Jeffries.
Join our host, Deb Tauber, andco-host Jerrod Jeffries as they
(01:09):
sit down with subject matterexperts from across the globe to
reimagine clinical educationand the use of simulation.
So pour yourself a cup ofrelaxation, sit back, tune in
and learn something new from TheSim Cafe.
Deb Tauber (01:32):
Welcome to another episode of The Sim Cafe.
Today,Jerrod and I are live atIMSH 2025 with Dan Micic.
Thank you, Dan, for being on.
And why don't y and today, jand I are here live at IMSH 2025
with Dan Micic Thank you, Dan,for being on.
And why don't?
Dan Micic (01:47):
Yeah, I started the company medical shipment a
little over 17 years ago,started out of the garage and
over these last 17 years itseems like it's flown by.
We have four areas of business.
One is we sell medical supplies.
Second is we sell medicalequipment.
Third is we do customizedkitting and the fourth is we
sell medical equipment.
Third is we do customizedkitting and the fourth is we
(02:08):
have an exclusive contract witha company called BD.
We sell the Pixis.
So a little bit about thecompany, myself and we got a
great team that's here, fivededicated reps that are here to
hopefully help out and serviceall the customers and all the
schools across this country.
Jerrod Jeffries (02:25):
Hopefully.
I've heard a lot about medicalshipment.
I think I've seen you guyspretty prominent at Naxal too.
Is that correct?
Dan Micic (02:31):
Yes, yes, yeah, that is correct.
So one of the big hits that'sover there and looking forward
to this is every single year wedo a puppy lounge.
So we started this out twoyears ago and, deb I don't know,
Jerrod or yourself, if you guyswere able to stop by, but we've
had some little pups that comeby, little cats that come by,
and the first year, I think,every single person actually
(02:53):
they were able to, you know,take all the pups and they got
all those dogs and cats to go tohomes.
Wow, yeah, adopted to all thepeople.
Jerrod Jeffries (03:02):
So that doesn't measure the needle or
move the needle on the businessside, but it's a little more
altruistic, which I love.
Dan Micic (03:08):
Yeah, exactly, the business side is fun, but you've
got to have fun as well, too,at the conferences.
Jerrod Jeffries (03:13):
So I want to go back to one of the areas
though, and this is maybe it's alittle farther away from me,
but you said the BD Pixismachine.
Can you give us a little morecolor there?
Dan Micic (03:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So BD, I'm sure you guys allknow the major company across
the country, the PIXIS.
It's a medication managementsystem.
Ultimately, it's like a smartvending machine for medications
and the PIXIS is in 60% ofhospitals across the country.
Wow, Acute care settings, yep,and some fun statistics that I
(03:43):
heard back from director ofmarketing over there.
Over a million nurses acrossthe country touch a Pyxis every
single day and there's over 7million medications that come in
and out of Pyxis medicationsystems in acute care settings
across the country every singleday as well, too.
Wow.
So what we do is we sell thePyxis to educational
(04:04):
institutions all across thecountry.
So you know, a big thing now ismedication errors and trying to
eliminate that and get studentsto train on these in the
educational setting before theygo into the real-world setting.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:14):
So this would still be simulation then,
correct?
Dan Micic (04:16):
So a lot of people.
That's a great question.
A lot of people actually askabout that.
It's actually the exact samething of what you see in the
hospital setting as what youwould get into the educational
setting.
Wow, yeah.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:28):
Oh yeah, I mean it's huge, huge value add,
because I mean then there's lessconfusion when it comes to time
to practice and such Exactly,you don't want the uh, the nurse
to come up and be like hey, Ithink I should be hitting this
button.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
I think I should be taking this medicine.
Dan Micic (04:42):
We want them to do this in the educational setting
and then, once they go in thereal world setting, they're very
proficient on the medicationdispensing unit, the PIXIS.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:52):
Yeah, I love it.
So I want to touch on.
There's four areas.
You said kitting as well.
I mean equipment and supplies.
I think most of our listenersknow about.
I think it's pretty, butkitting can you give us a little
more detail there?
Dan Micic (05:02):
So you know every single nursing school is either
going to buy their supplies fortheir students and bring it in
and then give it out to theirstudents Some schools are
switching over to.
They want a laundry list ofdifferent supplies that the
student's going to train on.
They'll send us over a list.
I'll give you an example.
Let's say they want to learnIVs and you have a 50 mil bag, a
(05:23):
250 mil bag, and then theprimary set, the secondary set,
the core competencies on how todo proper IV from start to
finish.
We'll put that all togetherinto a bag and then on top of
that we'll put a logo onto thebag for branding purposes.
So schools can have 20, 30, 40different line items inside of
(05:45):
that kit and then all thosethings of what they learn on
throughout that semester or theyear or years that they're there
.
That's what we'll put into thekit, custom for them.
Jerrod Jeffries (05:55):
So, for example and I'll bring them up a
little later but Wright State,for example, would be able to
put their school logo, school ofnursing, et cetera.
That would be for their fouryears, or however long.
Dan Micic (06:07):
Exactly, yep, yep.
So let's say you have an RMprogram that's there and every
single school is a little bitdifferent.
Some, you know, do itthroughout the year, some do it
two times out of the year, somedo it multiple times throughout
the year.
But this year I think we did alittle over two to 300 different
custom nursing kit schoolsacross the country and, I think,
a little over 20,000 actualcustom kits.
(06:29):
Wow, yeah, okay.
Jerrod Jeffries (06:33):
So I want to go back to Wright State, because
I ran into some people here atIMSH Maybe it was an Ohio thing,
or maybe it was just Ohio Statebeing in the national
championship game.
Yeah, nevertheless, there issome talk about some political
action that happened at WrightState as well.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about that too, dan?
Dan Micic (06:53):
Yeah, definitely Jared.
So lately over the last sixmonths, six to eight months what
I'm trying to do is bring moreawareness to nursing the
simulation market.
If we start aligning with ourlocal representatives, our
congressmen, congresswomen,senators, I think those are the
(07:14):
people that are going to movethe needle and help us bring
more awareness and, hopefully,more funding to this market.
So growing the pie.
Ultimately Yep, yep wedefinitely want to have more
dollars to be able to have allthese fancy booths and vendors
and stuff going into thesenursing schools.
So, with that being said,through some contacts and people
(07:37):
, I was able to set a meetingwith Senator Moreno Senator
Bernie Moreno from Ohio to comeout to one of the customers of
ours, which is Wright StateUniversity, and he was able to
come out for about 45 minutesand learn more about nursing in
general.
You know, I think he had anunderstanding of just what a
nurse is, but I don't think heunderstood really the nuances
(07:59):
and the pain points and all theissues of what nursing schools
deal with on a day-to-day basis.
So we put together that meetingand the president of the school
came out, senator Moreno cameout with his team, so the
senator was actually there atthe school.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, senatorMoreno was actually there.
He did about.
You know, it was roughly abouta 45 minute tour Met with the
(08:22):
president of the school, metwith the dean of the nursing
school, met with the director ofthe school, myself and the
director of marketing over at BD, and the biggest thing was to
try to bring more awareness.
One about the PIXs how do theyget the funding for it?
(08:44):
How do we do that more withmore schools across the country?
Jerrod Jeffries (08:49):
I think everybody understands that
medication errors are a an issuethat we need to combat within
nursing well, nursing shortages,nursing turnover I mean here at
the plenary sessions as welland, and I think that it's again
quite back to maybe thealtruism side of you, but, you
know, bringing more awarenessfrom a different angle of saying
I I have no statistics on this,but where does funding come
(09:12):
from A lot of these pieces?
I believe it is grants or somesort of government funding in
some way, shape or form.
I mean, of course there's a fewschools that have endowments
and other things, but theyprobably got started with some
sort of government funding thatis correct.
Dan Micic (09:25):
So one of the biggest things that they get grants for
for the PIXs was the Perkinsgrant In Ohio.
The biggest things that theyget grants for for the pixels
was the perkins grant.
Okay, in ohio there was anothergrant that we're talking about
was it was called the rapidgrant.
I would I would assume it wassomething specific within ohio
that was there.
But just to bring thatawareness, you know where do
they go and get it, how do theyget it, how do we, how do we
come together as a group, thesimulation group, and have one
(09:48):
voice and really bring thatvoice to the people that are in
power, our elected officials, tobring more funding, more
awareness, just the issues thatare at hand.
The stat that I heard theaverage age of a nurse now is 55
years old.
So how do we bring more nursesin?
(10:10):
How do we bring quality of careto improve?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
inside nursing.
Dan Micic (10:15):
And I think that starts with bringing this
message to the people that areelected officials on both sides
and hopefully you know, keeppushing that message along.
Jerrod Jeffries (10:25):
Yeah, well, I look forward to seeing if
there's anything else in thefuture around that.
Yeah, I think it's an importantsubject that I don't think we
see a lot of in this space, likegranted, I'm sure there's
different people in silos doinga lot of things, but doing it
for, I would say, the greatergood.
I hope there is, you know, someobvious benefit as well to
medical shipment, but I thinkallocating more funding towards
(10:49):
nursing is obviously a, you know, probably to myself and every
one of our listeners.
They're nodding their heads.
Dan Micic (10:55):
Yes, exactly, but you know, I start somewhere and I
think that you're taking thefirst leap, which is very
helpful hopefully be the pioneerthat's on here, but, uh, with
all the people that we haveinside this industry really
coming together, there's anadvocacy group and one of the
questions that I asked was whatis the mission, what is the
purpose, what are we trying todo to advocate?
(11:16):
And they had differentresponses.
So I think they came back andthey said we're still working on
that and I think that's okay.
Jerrod Jeffries (11:23):
I think we just need to come together as
one group, figure out onemessage that's here and
ultimately, ultimately, we wantto try to better simulation and
I think, with all the peoplethat we have, we can do that,
and that I mean now you'rereally speaking my language
because it's grow simulation butalso increase the benchmark,
(11:44):
and you do that through righteducation, right partners and
you to make sure that you knowyou're delivering the quality
care for obviously betterpatient care, but obviously, and
also putting in more numbers tosay, okay, we don't have a
shortage, where people aresleeping two hours a night
because they have to keepworking or just putting Band-Aid
over Band-Aid instead ofeducating a more fuller
(12:05):
workforce.
Dan Micic (12:05):
Yeah, yeah, exactly One day we're going to be
sitting in that bed, jared andour family members are going to
be sitting in that bed.
You want to hope that we'regoing to have the best care.
(12:29):
That's there.
And I'm looking forward toworking together more with, uh,
some of the leadership insideand, I guess, some of the
conversations that we had thismorning.
That's here and building off ofthat and and hopefully keep
pushing forward beautiful yeah,well, Dan, I thank you for the
time.
Jerrod Jeffries (12:45):
I hope the rest of IMSH goes well.
I've seen a lot of people bythe booth.
Dan Micic (12:49):
No puppies here at IMSH, come on by and see us in
Denver for the puppies at anASCO, perfect.
Jerrod Jeffries (12:56):
Well, thank you so much for the time and
keep doing what you're doing.
Thank you, jared, for having me.
Thanks, take care.
Deb Tauber (13:21):
Welcome to another episode of the Syncamp Day,
where we are live at IMSH 2025.
Welcome, Dr Lou Clark and DrKathy Smith.
So thank you for being on.
Jared want to start us off.
Jerrod Jeffries (13:36):
Yeah, well, I think we've got a privilege here
being with the new organizationwho's dedicated towards
healthcare simulation, ASPE, andalso Kathy Smith, so I want to
hand it over to you two.
First, tell us us a little bitabout ASPE.
Dr Lou Clark (13:49):
Thanks so much, and Deb.
So this is Lou, and ASPE hasactually been around for well
over 20 years and, believe it ornot, next year, in 2026, we're
going to celebrate our 25thconference.
So we've been around for awhile and we have nearly 1000
members in 44 countries aroundthe globe and our main purpose
(14:14):
is to support simulationeducation.
That has to do with fosteringhuman interaction between
learners.
We have great strides incommunication skills training,
but we also have other trainingtoo, and we accomplish all of
this with our partners,simulated participants or SPs.
(14:38):
And you notice I'm not sayingstandardized patients or
simulated patients, I'm veryspecifically using the language
of simulated participants.
Simulated participants, that'sright, because our SPs go beyond
health care.
So sometimes we work withsuperintendents of schools and
leadership training.
We've trained chaplains, policeofficers.
So our training, really, whilehealth care is such an important
(15:01):
part of what we do and reallyprobably the most significant
part of what we do, ourmethodology expands disciplines
and professions, and I'm herewith one of my mentors and
someone I look up to, KathySmith from Toronto.
Yeah, kathy, can you add tothat about just SPs and why
they're important?
Dr Kathy Smith (15:32):
Yeah, so they bring a human dimension to
simulation and they are part ofthe educational team.
I want to just add to what Louis talking about that there were
reasons historically why theywere called standardized
patients.
That had to do with high-stakesexaminations and while SPs may
work in high-stakes exams, weprefer to think of them as their
performance.
They are simulated participantswhose performances can be
standardized along a spectrumdepending on the context.
(15:54):
So in an educational sessionwhere there's a little bit more
latitude for them to makechoices, versus a high stakes
situation, where high stakesexam situation where it's
important that they have morescripted lines or they have to
answer things in a similar way,but they're still simulating a
(16:17):
performance.
Because it goes back to theidea of person-centered care and
that people aren't standardized.
We're all individuals and it'shelping health professionals to
understand that.
Jerrod Jeffries (16:28):
I also feel it's much more inclusive.
So I mean granted, as you said,we also feel like it's much
more inclusive.
So I mean granted, as you weresaying, Lou, it's healthcare is
your predominant industry orarea where you see SPs, but I
think it also adds a little moreinclusivity across other areas.
Dr Lou Clark (16:42):
I think so that inclusivity is so timely.
It's always been there for us,but it's even more timely now
because so many of us have beenasked to create formative
simulations for students topractice speaking with,
interacting with, communicating,with caring for patients and
(17:02):
people of all walks of life,ethnicities, sexual orientations
, genders, and we are oftenasked to create ages, we are
often asked to create sims forjust all kinds of practice
opportunities, and that's evenbecoming, I think, more
prevalent or just as prevalentas assessment, and assessment is
how this all started.
Jerrod Jeffries (17:23):
So I want to take us into a little bit.
What are some of ASPE's goalsfor 2025?
What are we looking?
Dr Lou Clark (17:31):
ahead for the year .
Yeah, so it's an exciting yearfor ASPE.
We, as I spoke with you both inNovember, we are kicking off
our inaugural year for the ASPESP program accreditation.
That is moving ahead strong andproud and we will be giving out
our first you know certificatesin that at our conference.
Our conference is coming upJune 1st through the 4th in
(17:53):
Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
We are also having we're reallyexcited Kathy and I happen to
be co-authors on a newpublication ten of us as ASPE
leaders and researchers and it'scalled call to action honoring,
honoring SPs and Collaboratingwith SP Educators, and so we've
(18:13):
been talking about it throughoutthe conference and it really
lays out some tenets around whatwe've just described that we've
always known within ourcommunity, but we really needed
to put them down in a conciseway on paper and that's what we
did.
So this is a peer-reviewededitorial calling for increased
collaboration with SP educatorsaround SP education, and we've
(18:36):
been promoting it throughoutIMSH.
And how do you feel about theconference this year?
So I think it's been a reallygreat conference for us and I
really want to thank SSHPresident Barry Eisenberg.
On the Saturday or Sundayplenary I was privileged to
accept presidential citationwith immediate past President
Sean Gilleen for ASPE and allthe work that we've done, and I
(19:00):
think it's very meaningful thatSSH leaders have recognized ASPE
as the association with thedepth and breadth of expertise
in human simulation.
We've also been privileged tocollaborate as a part of a work
group that's comprised ofleaders of INAXCL, simghost, SSH
(19:21):
and ASPE looking at the jobclassifications for SP educator,
SP and simulation tech and opsspecialist to work towards in
the US getting those classifiedby the US Department of Labor,
trying to bring some equity injob positions and compensation
to our members.
So we've been a big part ofthat as well.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
Do you have anything to share?
Yeah, maybe I could add.
So I've been a long time memberof ASPE and at one point I was
the conference chair.
But I'm currently on a coupleof committees and one of them is
the Standards of Best PracticeCommittee and we're currently
revising the standards this yearand we're doing a scoping
review looking at how thestandards have been cited since
(20:04):
they were first published in2017.
And, as I speak, a manuscripthas been submitted for standards
of best practice for PETAs orphysical exam teaching
associates, so look for that tobe published within the next six
months or so.
Deb Tauber (20:21):
That's fantastic, much needed.
Dr Lou Clark (20:24):
Yeah, and I'm so glad Kathy mentioned that, and I
did want to add that a newexciting feature of our
conference this year in Montrealis the first ever human
simulation research forum.
So this is going to be a bigpart of our conference this year
and we're very excited.
We have a grants and researchcommittee that's part of ASPE,
(20:45):
working with other leaders suchas Kathy and others to bring
more of that programming to ourmembers and bring in other folks
as well who maybe are a littlebit more research-oriented and
might think this is exciting anddecide we're going to come see
you in Montreal.
?
Deb Tauber (21:03):
guys have any closing thoughts for the
conferences we run?
Things are going to shut downany minute.
Dr Kathy Smith (21:10):
Well, I think one of the things in the article
, the call to action, is theidea that words matter, and many
times and I know that I havedone this in the past I don't
know about yourself, lou, butusing the term using as peace
and they're human beings, orreferring to them.
I've never done this, but peoplerefer to using as peace and
they're human beings, orreferring to them.
I've never done this, butpeople refer to them as tools,
(21:33):
and we really have come toconsciousness, and Deborah
Nastel, who's a very prominentresearcher in the area, really
brought this to the attention ofthe larger world, and we've all
gained awareness about it overthe last several years, and so I
think that in the editorial, wereally want to emphasize how
(21:55):
important it is.
It goes back to the idea thatSPs are also educational team
members, and so you wouldn't saythat you're using a faculty
member or a faculty member as atool in the simulation, and it's
a reflection of how the peoplethat the SPs are portraying are
thought of.
So we're not using patients.
(22:16):
Our patients aren't tools, andso that's something that I know
in a lot of research that I'vebeen doing as well.
I'm really looking at thelanguage that I use when I talk
about SPs, that I use when Italk about SPs, yeah, and I
thank you, Kathy.
Dr Lou Clark (22:30):
And I would say that in the call to action we
very specifically say don't useSPs.
And the use is italicized forthat very reason.
And then we go on to ask therhetorical question what does
this mean?
And it means exactly what Kathysaid, because when you look at
people as tools, you start todehumanize them and then their
(22:55):
psychological and physicalsafety is compromised.
And SPs are so special becausethey are the one methodology
here that is not inert, they arenot inanimate objects, they are
living and breathing and Ithink they're the highest
fidelity because they mostthey're people, they're patients
.
So we're very passionate aboutthat and I'm really excited to
(23:19):
keep a line of inquiry movingforward robustly.
And I want to call out Kathyand Deborah.
Deborah was our senior authoron the call to action.
They just published a new bookand we're going to be
highlighting that in theresearch forum.
So I'm going to embarrass herand say can you talk about your
book?
Dr Kathy Smith (23:35):
Sure.
So it's part of the SpringerComprehensive Healthcare Series
and it's on geriatric simulationand it's a focus on working
with older adult simulatedparticipants in the care of
older adults, and older adultsare identified by the WHO as
being over 60 years old, and sowe know that as people age they
(23:59):
can have cognitive changes,sensory changes, physical
changes, and our currentstandards and methodology don't
always account for that and wemay not be working with clinical
people who have that expertise.
And so we thought that therewas a need for this book, and
Lou is an author on one of thechapters and we have colleagues.
Dr Lou Clark (24:22):
We have 66 authors all together in the book and it
features a lot of scenarios, sowe're hoping it'll be of use in
the larger simulation communityyes, it sounds like it will be,
and I think you know just tokind of maybe wrap up Kathy's
description of 66 authors, Imean that's pretty impressive,
(24:43):
they've done an amazing job isso representative of our
community, of of our humansimulation community, because
it's just such a collaborativeand inclusive community and I
think every time I have theprivilege of speaking with
anyone about ASPE, I always wantto say that we are just here
representing an incrediblecommunity of practice that it's
just a pleasure to be a part ofthem.
Deb Tauber (25:04):
Congratulations.
Dr Lou Clark (25:05):
Thank you.
Deb Tauber (25:06):
Yeah, congratulations, thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus and we appreciate your time
and your passion, this work andLong live SPS.
Jerrod Jeffries (25:16):
Hey, thanks, that's exactly the idea.
Dr Lou Clark (25:19):
Thanks for having us, thank you.
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Thanks for joining us here atThe Sim Cafe.
(25:43):
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Welcome to the Sim Cafe, apodcast produced by the team at
Innovative Sim Solutions, editedby Shelly Houser.
Join our host, deb Tauber, andco-host, Jerrod Jeffries.
Join our host, Deb Tauber, andco-host Jerrod Jeffries as they
(01:09):
sit down with subject matterexperts from across the globe to
reimagine clinical educationand the use of simulation.
So pour yourself a cup ofrelaxation, sit back, tune in
and learn something new from TheSim Cafe.
Deb Tauber (01:32):
Welcome to another episode of The Sim Cafe.
Today,Jerrod and I are live atIMSH 2025 with Dan Micic.
Thank you, Dan, for being on.
And why don't y and today, jand I are here live at IMSH 2025
with Dan Micic Thank you, Dan,for being on.
And why don't?
Dan Micic (01:47):
Yeah, I started the company medical shipment a
little over 17 years ago,started out of the garage and
over these last 17 years itseems like it's flown by.
We have four areas of business.
One is we sell medical supplies.
Second is we sell medicalequipment.
Third is we do customizedkitting and the fourth is we
sell medical equipment.
Third is we do customizedkitting and the fourth is we
(02:08):
have an exclusive contract witha company called BD.
We sell the Pixis.
So a little bit about thecompany, myself and we got a
great team that's here, fivededicated reps that are here to
hopefully help out and serviceall the customers and all the
schools across this country.
Jerrod Jeffries (02:25):
Hopefully.
I've heard a lot about medicalshipment.
I think I've seen you guyspretty prominent at Naxal too.
Is that correct?
Dan Micic (02:31):
Yes, yes, yeah, that is correct.
So one of the big hits that'sover there and looking forward
to this is every single year wedo a puppy lounge.
So we started this out twoyears ago and, deb I don't know,
Jerrod or yourself, if you guyswere able to stop by, but we've
had some little pups that comeby, little cats that come by,
and the first year, I think,every single person actually
(02:53):
they were able to, you know,take all the pups and they got
all those dogs and cats to go tohomes.
Wow, yeah, adopted to all thepeople.
Jerrod Jeffries (03:02):
So that doesn't measure the needle or
move the needle on the businessside, but it's a little more
altruistic, which I love.
Dan Micic (03:08):
Yeah, exactly, the business side is fun, but you've
got to have fun as well, too,at the conferences.
Jerrod Jeffries (03:13):
So I want to go back to one of the areas
though, and this is maybe it's alittle farther away from me,
but you said the BD Pixismachine.
Can you give us a little morecolor there?
Dan Micic (03:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So BD, I'm sure you guys allknow the major company across
the country, the PIXIS.
It's a medication managementsystem.
Ultimately, it's like a smartvending machine for medications
and the PIXIS is in 60% ofhospitals across the country.
Wow, Acute care settings, yep,and some fun statistics that I
(03:43):
heard back from director ofmarketing over there.
Over a million nurses acrossthe country touch a Pyxis every
single day and there's over 7million medications that come in
and out of Pyxis medicationsystems in acute care settings
across the country every singleday as well, too.
Wow.
So what we do is we sell thePyxis to educational
(04:04):
institutions all across thecountry.
So you know, a big thing now ismedication errors and trying to
eliminate that and get studentsto train on these in the
educational setting before theygo into the real-world setting.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:14):
So this would still be simulation then,
correct?
Dan Micic (04:16):
So a lot of people.
That's a great question.
A lot of people actually askabout that.
It's actually the exact samething of what you see in the
hospital setting as what youwould get into the educational
setting.
Wow, yeah.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:28):
Oh yeah, I mean it's huge, huge value add,
because I mean then there's lessconfusion when it comes to time
to practice and such Exactly,you don't want the uh, the nurse
to come up and be like hey, Ithink I should be hitting this
button.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
I think I should be taking this medicine.
Dan Micic (04:42):
We want them to do this in the educational setting
and then, once they go in thereal world setting, they're very
proficient on the medicationdispensing unit, the PIXIS.
Jerrod Jeffries (04:52):
Yeah, I love it.
So I want to touch on.
There's four areas.
You said kitting as well.
I mean equipment and supplies.
I think most of our listenersknow about.
I think it's pretty, butkitting can you give us a little
more detail there?
Dan Micic (05:02):
So you know every single nursing school is either
going to buy their supplies fortheir students and bring it in
and then give it out to theirstudents Some schools are
switching over to.
They want a laundry list ofdifferent supplies that the
student's going to train on.
They'll send us over a list.
I'll give you an example.
Let's say they want to learnIVs and you have a 50 mil bag, a
(05:23):
250 mil bag, and then theprimary set, the secondary set,
the core competencies on how todo proper IV from start to
finish.
We'll put that all togetherinto a bag and then on top of
that we'll put a logo onto thebag for branding purposes.
So schools can have 20, 30, 40different line items inside of
(05:45):
that kit and then all thosethings of what they learn on
throughout that semester or theyear or years that they're there
.
That's what we'll put into thekit, custom for them.
Jerrod Jeffries (05:55):
So, for example and I'll bring them up a
little later but Wright State,for example, would be able to
put their school logo, school ofnursing, et cetera.
That would be for their fouryears, or however long.
Dan Micic (06:07):
Exactly, yep, yep.
So let's say you have an RMprogram that's there and every
single school is a little bitdifferent.
Some, you know, do itthroughout the year, some do it
two times out of the year, somedo it multiple times throughout
the year.
But this year I think we did alittle over two to 300 different
custom nursing kit schoolsacross the country and, I think,
a little over 20,000 actualcustom kits.
(06:29):
Wow, yeah, okay.
Jerrod Jeffries (06:33):
So I want to go back to Wright State, because
I ran into some people here atIMSH Maybe it was an Ohio thing,
or maybe it was just Ohio Statebeing in the national
championship game.
Yeah, nevertheless, there issome talk about some political
action that happened at WrightState as well.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about that too, dan?
Dan Micic (06:53):
Yeah, definitely Jared.
So lately over the last sixmonths, six to eight months what
I'm trying to do is bring moreawareness to nursing the
simulation market.
If we start aligning with ourlocal representatives, our
congressmen, congresswomen,senators, I think those are the
(07:14):
people that are going to movethe needle and help us bring
more awareness and, hopefully,more funding to this market.
So growing the pie.
Ultimately Yep, yep wedefinitely want to have more
dollars to be able to have allthese fancy booths and vendors
and stuff going into thesenursing schools.
So, with that being said,through some contacts and people
(07:37):
, I was able to set a meetingwith Senator Moreno Senator
Bernie Moreno from Ohio to comeout to one of the customers of
ours, which is Wright StateUniversity, and he was able to
come out for about 45 minutesand learn more about nursing in
general.
You know, I think he had anunderstanding of just what a
nurse is, but I don't think heunderstood really the nuances
(07:59):
and the pain points and all theissues of what nursing schools
deal with on a day-to-day basis.
So we put together that meetingand the president of the school
came out, senator Moreno cameout with his team, so the
senator was actually there atthe school.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, senatorMoreno was actually there.
He did about.
You know, it was roughly abouta 45 minute tour Met with the
(08:22):
president of the school, metwith the dean of the nursing
school, met with the director ofthe school, myself and the
director of marketing over at BD, and the biggest thing was to
try to bring more awareness.
One about the PIXs how do theyget the funding for it?
(08:44):
How do we do that more withmore schools across the country?
Jerrod Jeffries (08:49):
I think everybody understands that
medication errors are a an issuethat we need to combat within
nursing well, nursing shortages,nursing turnover I mean here at
the plenary sessions as welland, and I think that it's again
quite back to maybe thealtruism side of you, but, you
know, bringing more awarenessfrom a different angle of saying
I I have no statistics on this,but where does funding come
(09:12):
from A lot of these pieces?
I believe it is grants or somesort of government funding in
some way, shape or form.
I mean, of course there's a fewschools that have endowments
and other things, but theyprobably got started with some
sort of government funding thatis correct.
Dan Micic (09:25):
So one of the biggest things that they get grants for
for the PIXs was the Perkinsgrant In Ohio.
The biggest things that theyget grants for for the pixels
was the perkins grant.
Okay, in ohio there was anothergrant that we're talking about
was it was called the rapidgrant.
I would I would assume it wassomething specific within ohio
that was there.
But just to bring thatawareness, you know where do
they go and get it, how do theyget it, how do we, how do we
come together as a group, thesimulation group, and have one
(09:48):
voice and really bring thatvoice to the people that are in
power, our elected officials, tobring more funding, more
awareness, just the issues thatare at hand.
The stat that I heard theaverage age of a nurse now is 55
years old.
So how do we bring more nursesin?
(10:10):
How do we bring quality of careto improve?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
inside nursing.
Dan Micic (10:15):
And I think that starts with bringing this
message to the people that areelected officials on both sides
and hopefully you know, keeppushing that message along.
Jerrod Jeffries (10:25):
Yeah, well, I look forward to seeing if
there's anything else in thefuture around that.
Yeah, I think it's an importantsubject that I don't think we
see a lot of in this space, likegranted, I'm sure there's
different people in silos doinga lot of things, but doing it
for, I would say, the greatergood.
I hope there is, you know, someobvious benefit as well to
medical shipment, but I thinkallocating more funding towards
(10:49):
nursing is obviously a, you know, probably to myself and every
one of our listeners.
They're nodding their heads.
Dan Micic (10:55):
Yes, exactly, but you know, I start somewhere and I
think that you're taking thefirst leap, which is very
helpful hopefully be the pioneerthat's on here, but, uh, with
all the people that we haveinside this industry really
coming together, there's anadvocacy group and one of the
questions that I asked was whatis the mission, what is the
purpose, what are we trying todo to advocate?
(11:16):
And they had differentresponses.
So I think they came back andthey said we're still working on
that and I think that's okay.
Jerrod Jeffries (11:23):
I think we just need to come together as
one group, figure out onemessage that's here and
ultimately, ultimately, we wantto try to better simulation and
I think, with all the peoplethat we have, we can do that,
and that I mean now you'rereally speaking my language
because it's grow simulation butalso increase the benchmark,
(11:44):
and you do that through righteducation, right partners and
you to make sure that you knowyou're delivering the quality
care for obviously betterpatient care, but obviously, and
also putting in more numbers tosay, okay, we don't have a
shortage, where people aresleeping two hours a night
because they have to keepworking or just putting Band-Aid
over Band-Aid instead ofeducating a more fuller
(12:05):
workforce.
Dan Micic (12:05):
Yeah, yeah, exactly One day we're going to be
sitting in that bed, jared andour family members are going to
be sitting in that bed.
You want to hope that we'regoing to have the best care.
(12:29):
That's there.
And I'm looking forward toworking together more with, uh,
some of the leadership insideand, I guess, some of the
conversations that we had thismorning.
That's here and building off ofthat and and hopefully keep
pushing forward beautiful yeah,well, Dan, I thank you for the
time.
Jerrod Jeffries (12:45):
I hope the rest of IMSH goes well.
I've seen a lot of people bythe booth.
Dan Micic (12:49):
No puppies here at IMSH, come on by and see us in
Denver for the puppies at anASCO, perfect.
Jerrod Jeffries (12:56):
Well, thank you so much for the time and
keep doing what you're doing.
Thank you, jared, for having me.
Thanks, take care.
Deb Tauber (13:21):
Welcome to another episode of the Syncamp Day,
where we are live at IMSH 2025.
Welcome, Dr Lou Clark and DrKathy Smith.
So thank you for being on.
Jared want to start us off.
Jerrod Jeffries (13:36):
Yeah, well, I think we've got a privilege here
being with the new organizationwho's dedicated towards
healthcare simulation, ASPE, andalso Kathy Smith, so I want to
hand it over to you two.
First, tell us us a little bitabout ASPE.
Dr Lou Clark (13:49):
Thanks so much, and Deb.
So this is Lou, and ASPE hasactually been around for well
over 20 years and, believe it ornot, next year, in 2026, we're
going to celebrate our 25thconference.
So we've been around for awhile and we have nearly 1000
members in 44 countries aroundthe globe and our main purpose
(14:14):
is to support simulationeducation.
That has to do with fosteringhuman interaction between
learners.
We have great strides incommunication skills training,
but we also have other trainingtoo, and we accomplish all of
this with our partners,simulated participants or SPs.
(14:38):
And you notice I'm not sayingstandardized patients or
simulated patients, I'm veryspecifically using the language
of simulated participants.
Simulated participants, that'sright, because our SPs go beyond
health care.
So sometimes we work withsuperintendents of schools and
leadership training.
We've trained chaplains, policeofficers.
So our training, really, whilehealth care is such an important
(15:01):
part of what we do and reallyprobably the most significant
part of what we do, ourmethodology expands disciplines
and professions, and I'm herewith one of my mentors and
someone I look up to, KathySmith from Toronto.
Yeah, kathy, can you add tothat about just SPs and why
they're important?
Dr Kathy Smith (15:32):
Yeah, so they bring a human dimension to
simulation and they are part ofthe educational team.
I want to just add to what Louis talking about that there were
reasons historically why theywere called standardized
patients.
That had to do with high-stakesexaminations and while SPs may
work in high-stakes exams, weprefer to think of them as their
performance.
They are simulated participantswhose performances can be
standardized along a spectrumdepending on the context.
(15:54):
So in an educational sessionwhere there's a little bit more
latitude for them to makechoices, versus a high stakes
situation, where high stakesexam situation where it's
important that they have morescripted lines or they have to
answer things in a similar way,but they're still simulating a
(16:17):
performance.
Because it goes back to theidea of person-centered care and
that people aren't standardized.
We're all individuals and it'shelping health professionals to
understand that.
Jerrod Jeffries (16:28):
I also feel it's much more inclusive.
So I mean granted, as you said,we also feel like it's much
more inclusive.
So I mean granted, as you weresaying, Lou, it's healthcare is
your predominant industry orarea where you see SPs, but I
think it also adds a little moreinclusivity across other areas.
Dr Lou Clark (16:42):
I think so that inclusivity is so timely.
It's always been there for us,but it's even more timely now
because so many of us have beenasked to create formative
simulations for students topractice speaking with,
interacting with, communicating,with caring for patients and
(17:02):
people of all walks of life,ethnicities, sexual orientations
, genders, and we are oftenasked to create ages, we are
often asked to create sims forjust all kinds of practice
opportunities, and that's evenbecoming, I think, more
prevalent or just as prevalentas assessment, and assessment is
how this all started.
Jerrod Jeffries (17:23):
So I want to take us into a little bit.
What are some of ASPE's goalsfor 2025?
What are we looking?
Dr Lou Clark (17:31):
ahead for the year .
Yeah, so it's an exciting yearfor ASPE.
We, as I spoke with you both inNovember, we are kicking off
our inaugural year for the ASPESP program accreditation.
That is moving ahead strong andproud and we will be giving out
our first you know certificatesin that at our conference.
Our conference is coming upJune 1st through the 4th in
(17:53):
Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
We are also having we're reallyexcited Kathy and I happen to
be co-authors on a newpublication ten of us as ASPE
leaders and researchers and it'scalled call to action honoring,
honoring SPs and Collaboratingwith SP Educators, and so we've
(18:13):
been talking about it throughoutthe conference and it really
lays out some tenets around whatwe've just described that we've
always known within ourcommunity, but we really needed
to put them down in a conciseway on paper and that's what we
did.
So this is a peer-reviewededitorial calling for increased
collaboration with SP educatorsaround SP education, and we've
(18:36):
been promoting it throughoutIMSH.
And how do you feel about theconference this year?
So I think it's been a reallygreat conference for us and I
really want to thank SSHPresident Barry Eisenberg.
On the Saturday or Sundayplenary I was privileged to
accept presidential citationwith immediate past President
Sean Gilleen for ASPE and allthe work that we've done, and I
(19:00):
think it's very meaningful thatSSH leaders have recognized ASPE
as the association with thedepth and breadth of expertise
in human simulation.
We've also been privileged tocollaborate as a part of a work
group that's comprised ofleaders of INAXCL, simghost, SSH
(19:21):
and ASPE looking at the jobclassifications for SP educator,
SP and simulation tech and opsspecialist to work towards in
the US getting those classifiedby the US Department of Labor,
trying to bring some equity injob positions and compensation
to our members.
So we've been a big part ofthat as well.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
Do you have anything to share?
Yeah, maybe I could add.
So I've been a long time memberof ASPE and at one point I was
the conference chair.
But I'm currently on a coupleof committees and one of them is
the Standards of Best PracticeCommittee and we're currently
revising the standards this yearand we're doing a scoping
review looking at how thestandards have been cited since
(20:04):
they were first published in2017.
And, as I speak, a manuscripthas been submitted for standards
of best practice for PETAs orphysical exam teaching
associates, so look for that tobe published within the next six
months or so.
Deb Tauber (20:21):
That's fantastic, much needed.
Dr Lou Clark (20:24):
Yeah, and I'm so glad Kathy mentioned that, and I
did want to add that a newexciting feature of our
conference this year in Montrealis the first ever human
simulation research forum.
So this is going to be a bigpart of our conference this year
and we're very excited.
We have a grants and researchcommittee that's part of ASPE,
(20:45):
working with other leaders suchas Kathy and others to bring
more of that programming to ourmembers and bring in other folks
as well who maybe are a littlebit more research-oriented and
might think this is exciting anddecide we're going to come see
you in Montreal.
?
Deb Tauber (21:03):
guys have any closing thoughts for the
conferences we run?
Things are going to shut downany minute.
Dr Kathy Smith (21:10):
Well, I think one of the things in the article
, the call to action, is theidea that words matter, and many
times and I know that I havedone this in the past I don't
know about yourself, lou, butusing the term using as peace
and they're human beings, orreferring to them.
I've never done this, but peoplerefer to using as peace and
they're human beings, orreferring to them.
I've never done this, butpeople refer to them as tools,
(21:33):
and we really have come toconsciousness, and Deborah
Nastel, who's a very prominentresearcher in the area, really
brought this to the attention ofthe larger world, and we've all
gained awareness about it overthe last several years, and so I
think that in the editorial, wereally want to emphasize how
(21:55):
important it is.
It goes back to the idea thatSPs are also educational team
members, and so you wouldn't saythat you're using a faculty
member or a faculty member as atool in the simulation, and it's
a reflection of how the peoplethat the SPs are portraying are
thought of.
So we're not using patients.
(22:16):
Our patients aren't tools, andso that's something that I know
in a lot of research that I'vebeen doing as well.
I'm really looking at thelanguage that I use when I talk
about SPs, that I use when Italk about SPs, yeah, and I
thank you, Kathy.
Dr Lou Clark (22:30):
And I would say that in the call to action we
very specifically say don't useSPs.
And the use is italicized forthat very reason.
And then we go on to ask therhetorical question what does
this mean?
And it means exactly what Kathysaid, because when you look at
people as tools, you start todehumanize them and then their
(22:55):
psychological and physicalsafety is compromised.
And SPs are so special becausethey are the one methodology
here that is not inert, they arenot inanimate objects, they are
living and breathing and Ithink they're the highest
fidelity because they mostthey're people, they're patients
.
So we're very passionate aboutthat and I'm really excited to
(23:19):
keep a line of inquiry movingforward robustly.
And I want to call out Kathyand Deborah.
Deborah was our senior authoron the call to action.
They just published a new bookand we're going to be
highlighting that in theresearch forum.
So I'm going to embarrass herand say can you talk about your
book?
Dr Kathy Smith (23:35):
Sure.
So it's part of the SpringerComprehensive Healthcare Series
and it's on geriatric simulationand it's a focus on working
with older adult simulatedparticipants in the care of
older adults, and older adultsare identified by the WHO as
being over 60 years old, and sowe know that as people age they
(23:59):
can have cognitive changes,sensory changes, physical
changes, and our currentstandards and methodology don't
always account for that and wemay not be working with clinical
people who have that expertise.
And so we thought that therewas a need for this book, and
Lou is an author on one of thechapters and we have colleagues.
Dr Lou Clark (24:22):
We have 66 authors all together in the book and it
features a lot of scenarios, sowe're hoping it'll be of use in
the larger simulation communityyes, it sounds like it will be,
and I think you know just tokind of maybe wrap up Kathy's
description of 66 authors, Imean that's pretty impressive,
(24:43):
they've done an amazing job isso representative of our
community, of of our humansimulation community, because
it's just such a collaborativeand inclusive community and I
think every time I have theprivilege of speaking with
anyone about ASPE, I always wantto say that we are just here
representing an incrediblecommunity of practice that it's
just a pleasure to be a part ofthem.
Deb Tauber (25:04):
Congratulations.
Dr Lou Clark (25:05):
Thank you.
Deb Tauber (25:06):
Yeah, congratulations, thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus and we appreciate your time
and your passion, this work andLong live SPS.
Jerrod Jeffries (25:16):
Hey, thanks, that's exactly the idea.
Dr Lou Clark (25:19):
Thanks for having us, thank you.
Disclaimer/ Innovative Si (25:20):
Thank you.
Thanks to Innovative SimSolutions for sponsoring this
week's podcast.
Innovative Sim Solutions willmake your plans for your next
Sim Center a reality.
Contact Deb Tauber and her teamtoday.
Thanks for joining us here atThe Sim Cafe.
(25:43):
We hope you enjoyed.
Visit us at www.
innovativesimsolutions.
com and be sure to hit that likeand subscribe button so you
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