TSDA Cardiac Surgery Simulation Curriculum

TSDA is pleased to make available the manual Cardiac Surgery Simulation Curriculum: Simulation-Based Training in Surgical Skills and Decision Making.

The curriculum is composed of training in six surgery modules: three basic cardiac surgery procedures and three important intraoperative adverse events:

  • Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
  • Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG)
  • Aortic valve replacement (AVR)
  • Acute intraoperative aortic dissection (AIAD)
  • Sudden perioperative deterioration of cardiac function (SDCF)

For each simulation session of each module, the curriculum provides the following:

  • Session overview
  • Prerequisites
  • Equipment and materials required
  • Simulation set-up
  • Conduct of the simulation
  • Assessment tools

The Cardiac Surgery Simulation Curriculum: Simulation-Based Training in Surgical Skills and Decision Making manual represents the combined work by the investigators and staff at the eight institutions in the Cardiac Surgery Simulation Consortium, including University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Vanderbilt University, University of Rochester, University of Washington and Stanford University. The curriculum was prepared as part of a multi-institution study of cardiac surgery simulator training for resident physicians that was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ), and given to TSDA to make the curriculum readily available to all cardiothoracic surgery trainees.

Click here to view Cardiac Surgery Simulation Curriculum: Simulation-Based Training in Surgical Skills and Decision Making.

Click here to view the simulation curriculum aortic valve replacement video.

Click here to view a video about simulation training at the University of Washington.