Education Design & Innovation

Interprofessional Education (IPE) occurs when two or more professions learn with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care.

Team-based care is a critical component of safe, quality oncology care. Evidence supports IPE and team training improves healthcare professionals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, individual and team performance, and patient outcomes. Evidence also supports the opposite: poor team performance leads to poor patient outcomes. Over the past decade, there have been increasing pressure from national medical education organizations and accreditation bodies for interprofessional education that leads to competencies towards collaborative practice or team-based care. IPE helps us to teach and learn as a team.

The education design and instruction office provides world-class instructional design services, educational products, and education technology resources that support online, flipped, blended, and classroom learning modalities. Our education engineers successfully bridge the space between clinician, scientist and master educator through services and resources that support the dissemination of academic achievements and best practices using the best education science and evidence.

The Clinical Emergency Management office delivers quality improvement tools, assessment, and interventions to improve clinical medical emergency responses across all MD Anderson facilities. Our team customizes each training session to meet the unique needs of each clinical environment and uses an innovative, interactive and interprofessional approach to prepare every employee for action.

Clinical Emergency Management also collaborates with the American Heart Association (AHA) to provide basic and advanced life support courses. We offer the following courses:

• Basic Life Support – Healthcare Provider
• Basic Life Support – Heartsaver
• Basic Life Support and First Aid (by request)
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support Course

The TIPS Education Center is able to provide immersive simulation education and training just about anywhere.  We strive to be the international model of excellence in health care simulation for cancer care. We are recognized by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare for our quality educational programs, which feature research-based, innovative and state-of-the-art education and training, as well as competency validation tools. We can help create, plan and conduct education events in the original environment or at our state-of-the-art Simulation Center. 

The Simulation Center is a 15,000 square foot simulated clinical environment. We offer different simulation and education technologies to achieve a wide range of learning objectives. We are able to design fully immersive settings, such as hospital rooms and even airplane cabins, or provide a classroom environment. Here's a brief look at our services and facility's features:

Lecture Hall
This room seats up to 50 learners and can be used as a conference room or classroom. 

High-Tech Hospital Simulation Rooms
The center has four hospital simulation rooms that can mimic the various clinical settings across MD Anderson. These rooms can be used to simulate surgeries, patient interactions, and hone teaming skills.  

Simulation for Training Classrooms
These four classrooms allow instructors and learners to focus on developing specific skills, such as central line insertion, lumbar puncture and para/thoracentesis using partial task trainers with phantom technology.  

Special Procedure and Skill-based Classrooms
The center offers space for learners to develop a variety of airway-, vascular-, lumbar- and catheter-related skills.

Surgical and Clinical Skills/Techniques Support
The simulation staff works directly with front-line educators in conducting (scheduling, supplying and supporting) discipline specific animate and inanimate techniques labs. We partner with internal institutional resources and most Texas Medical Center institutions to fully operationalize and support MD Anderson’s advanced clinical and surgical education events across the medical center.

Audio/Video Capture Capabilities
Most of these rooms feature SimCapture, a program that records and stores education events for subsequent review. 

Interactive Technologies
Most of our simulation technologies are inherently immersive and enable realistic training utilizing the same equipment employed throughout the institute without danger to the patient population. This level of realism and interactivity empowers our participants with directly relevant knowledge.

Some of the programs and capabilities we offer include:

• Laerdal Simulators: 3G w/ASL 5000, Essential, Junior, Baby)
• Anatomage Table- 3D: Anatomy and Physiology 
• FLS Laproscopic: Surgery Trainers
• Ultrasound (GE and SonoSite)
• VitalsBridge: Monitor Technology
• LLEAP Software: Patient Simulation
• Q-CPR

Ope Akinbiyi, M.S.H.R.D.
Instructional Designer

Melissa Andrus
Program Coordinator

Karol Arreaga, M.B.A.
Program Manager

Mark Blaylock
Director, Education Core Facilities

Eric Cano
Education Specialist

Toni Edwards, M.B.A., B.S.R.C., RRT-ACCS, CPHQ
Simulation Educator

Daniel Gonzalez, Jr., Ed.D., CFD
Senior Instructional Designer

Annie Hwang, M.S.
Associate IT Instructional Designer

Todd Juneau, M.Ed.
Instructional Designer

Shelita Kimble, M.Ed.
Director, Simulation Center

Sabrenda Littles, Ph.D., DNP, MBA, APRN, CRNA, CNE
Associate Director

Melissa Mims, MBA, CAP-OM
Program Manager

Shane Potter, EMT-P
Educator, Life Support Training Center

Quentin Smith, Jr. 
Simulation Technician

Cusheena Stanciel, MSN/Ed, RN, CCRN, CNEcl
Simulation Educator

Ashley Tran, D.C.
Education Coordinator

Francisco Vergaray
Solutions Administrator

Bradley White, M.F.A.
Sr. Education Specialist