SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine recently completed a $2 million, 3,000 square foot expansion to the Parry Center for Clinical Skills and Simulations.

The expansion includes space for the new Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program that received its accreditation in November. The Parry Center added a new simulated post-anesthesia care unit, operating room and intensive care unit. 

“We do our scenarios exactly the same way they happen in real life,” Valeriy Kozmenko, the director of the Parry Center, said. “ICU, lung intubation, all of the equipment is real medical equipment.”

The Parry Center opened its doors in 2012 and since then has been leading medical students at USD through simulation labs using equipment like ultrasound machines, IV fluid models, lumbar puncture tools and mannequins that imitate real patient care and respond to treatment. 

The mannequins are connected to computers and are able to generate vital signs like heart and breath sounds, chest compounds and eye blinking. The mannequins range from $50,000-60,000 a piece. 

Kozmenko said one of the reasons for the expansion of the Parry Center is to further encourage interprofessional coordination with different sectors of the medical field. 

“We have an ICU bedside simulated program where medical students, nursing students, occupational therapy, physical therapy and pharmacy students get together and practice how to round on the ICU patients with a stroke,” he said. 

Kozmenko said the medical field is switching to more team-based care and that it’s important for students to understand how to work with different members of the health care system together. 

Last school year, students put in over 15,000 contact hours with the Parry Center. The USD Sanford School of Medicine is ranked in the top 10 percent for medical schools in the country and they have almost a 100 percent match rate for students getting into residency programs. 

“When we do residency preparation, we follow up with students six months after graduation to check with them about what was useful in their preparation for residency and what needs to be added to the curriculum,” Kozmenko said. “We take that feedback to improve and enhance all the teachings that we provide here.”