Simulocity
Training of Clinical Staff, Virtually

One of the hardest moments for a healthcare professional is the realization that a patient under her care will not be cured, has a terminal disease, and should be referred to palliative care. Too often, healthcare professionals see this as a failure on their part and continue using aggressive treatments. However, accepting the turn of events and tailoring a medical plan that ensures that a patient’s terminal care is focused on comfort and symptom management is the greatest service a physician can provide. But, how does a physician prepare herself to offer such care? Florida-based Simulocity is the answer. A gamified clinical staff training solution, Simulocity facilitates the training of clinicians virtually and supports the development of the skills and competencies to care for patients in challenging situations. “With the heightened patient and care-giver emotions associated with serious illness, nothing eases the situation better than a compassionate, well-prepared doctor, and this is where Simulocity can have an important impact,” says Dr. Manny Dominguez, founder and CEO of Simulocity, based in Orlando, Florida.

Dominguez’s journey to Simulocity started with the U.S. Air Force Medical Service, where he first founded the medical gamification department to increase the proficiency of military doctors and nurses. After implementing a gamification division in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and winning top awards, Dominguez and his team have now created SIMCITA, a platform that virtualizes an entire organization to provide on-demand medical training to optimize the clinicians’ ability to care for patients.

“With SIMCITA, a clinician can create a virtual avatar to play serious medical games that implement the best practices in the industry,” says Dominguez. This form of training is critical for doctors who always need to have sensitive conversations with patients suffering from serious medical illnesses. The games simulate real-life situations and allow the player to explore making decisions in a safe environment without harm to patients. In case the doctor makes a wrong decision, the consequences are displayed, followed by suggestions for a better choice. In addition to gamification, SIMCITA also incorporates training experiences with standardized patients—live actors playing the role of patients. The encounter with the patient/live actor is recorded and rated in real time.

Dominguez and his team have now created SIMCITA, a platform that virtualizes an entire organization to provide on-demand medical training to optimize the clinicians’ ability to care for patients

At the end, an expert reviews the recording to show the doctor what was done well and what needs improvement. This immediate feedback, in addition to recommended readings, is very valuable in enhancing clinician competence.

Although Simulocity’s gamified training programs are primarily available for doctors and nurses, the company is also developing gamification modules for other roles and genres. The platform proves to be equally advantageous for a myriad of industries, such as, civil, oil and gas, and military organizations to train their internal teams. “In addition”, says Dominguez, “we use the platform for customer service training, new student or employee orientation and safety courses, to name a few".

As an industry-agnostic firm, Simulocity begins their engagement with clients by understanding their business model first and how best the platform can support their objectives. Once these are defined, Simulocity moves forward over the following three to six months to individualize the virtual platform to meet the client’s objectives. The platform is available for both PC and Mac, along with mobile devices, facilitating accessibility in both normal and low-bandwidth environments.

Today, Simulocity is gaining traction across the globe with organizations that want to use gamification to create new and modern approaches to their staff training. “In the years to come, Simulocity sees additional growth in the fields of safety management and education. SIMCITA can help organizations teach the safe use of heavy and dangerous equipment; implement new business processes; provide cybersecurity scenarios for security professionals, and enhance a myriad of business skills. We basically provide an immersive and innovative virtual training center,” concludes Dominguez.