SimMan helps students become physician assistants

The first Master's degree program at Knoxville's South College features hands-on instruction for an occupation in high demand: physician assistant.

About 72,000 physician assistants practice in the United States. That number is expected to grow as the population ages, and demand for medical care increases.

Students in the program at South College work in a realistic lab putting in an I.V. line, checking vital signs, and trying to find out what's wrong with a patient.

"Steady the scope," said Alan Britton, as he maneuvered a device down the patient's throat. "Going down where I can see the chords."

The patient is actually a medical mannequin, called SimMan.

Behind one-way glass, an instructor used a lap top computer to simulate different medical emergencies.

SimMan is realistic but not alive, so they cannot hurt him.

"We can mess up. We can do what we need to do," said Britton. "We can have instructors in there with us showing us what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong."

The students practice on SimMan and then practice on each other in a mock emergency room.

The laboratory experience complements what the students learn in the classroom during the first part of a 27-month Master's degree program. "I'm a visual learner and a do-learner, so the more I get to do, the more I understand what I'm learning in the classroom," said Kim Rose, a student who was a medic in Iraq.

The dean of the new school, Dr. Ken Harbert, embraces the practical approach.

"We want them to practice, practice, practice, so when they go into the real world, it's second nature," Harbert said.

After 15 months of hands-on instruction, students will spend a year in real clinical settings.

"These students will graduate and go on to provide care in under served medical areas, with physicians in hospitals, in cardiovascular centers, whatever," said Harbert. "They're trained as generalists to work with any physician, anywhere, for any reason."