Pulse Medical Game To Be Demonstrated At Clinical Congress

Dr. Claudia L. Johnston, Associate Vice President for Special Projects at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, will demonstrate her research project, titled Pulse!! The Virtual Clinical Learning Lab at the Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons set to convene in New Orleans October 7-11. Pulse!! is designed to show whether sophisticated medical clinical learning can occur in virtual space powered by game technology. The project will be billed as a means of providing clinical experience and enhanced continuing education focused on reducing medical errors. Johnston is director of the university’s Center for Virtual Medical Education and principal investigator for Pulse!! research. Pulse!! is the center’s signature project, originated by Johnston and funded to date by almost $10 million in federal grants through the Office of Naval Research. For the demonstration, Johnston will be accompanied by key members of the Pulse!! research team: Navy Cmdr. James R. Dunne, Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care and Medical Director of Critical Care at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; Jan Cannon-Bowers, an associate professor at Central Florida University in Orlando, who’s in charge of the Pulse!! evaluation team; and Pulse!! executive producer Ed Fletcher.