The Morchand Center for Clinical Competence

"Where there is love for mankind, there is love for the art of healing."
– Hippocrates

The above quote greets visitors as they enter The Morchand Center, and it is this philosophy that has served as the basis for its creation - caring and concern for all. Housed in the Annenberg Building within the Mount Sinai Medical Center complex, The Morchand Center is an attractively-designed suite of fully functional examination rooms, assessment stations and a conference room, that provide an ideal environment for teaching, learning, evaluation and feedback. Seven examination rooms and a conference room, each equipped with closed-circuit color television cameras and stereo microphones, are linked to a separate observation theater so that the simulated doctor-patient interactions used to teach important communication skills can be monitored and digitally recorded.

The Facility

The Morchand Center boasts seven fully outfitted exam rooms, with wall-mounted instruments, adjustable exam tables, sink units, disposables and working telephones for phone encounters. One room has a hospital bed and a window for one-way viewing. Each room is equipped with closed-circuit color television cameras and stereo microphones linked to a separate state-of-the art observation theater where the simulated doctor-patient interactions are monitored and digitally recorded.

The Observation Theater

As the student-patient interaction is taking place, the proceedings can be watched in the observation theater - the heart of The Morchand Center.

Custom-designed specifically to meet the needs of the Center, the theater's state-of-the-art audiovisual system serves as the eyes and ears of the program. Eight flat screen monitors, with the capability of displaying two different images simultaneously, are displayed for audience viewing. There is theater-style viewing for 10, and room for even more. Viewers can individually adjust the controls on their theater seats to tune in to any of the examining rooms. In addition, the video technician can adjust the cameras in the examination rooms from the observation theater to observe the activity from different angles.

High Fidelity Simulation Mannequin

The Morchand Center also houses a high fidelity human simulation mannequin, which enables us to run both standard simulation encounters and hybrid encounters that integrate SPs. We are able to test learners' ability to find and evaluate abnormal or pathologic physical exam findings such as heart murmurs or lung sounds, and vital signs such as blood pressure. The high fidelity machine can also react to treatment choices learners make with realistic physiologic responses, allowing them to practice real-time clinical decision-making. Finally, by integrating the performance of a live SP into a standard encounter with the mannequin, learners can be assessed on their ability to communicate with a live "patient," while simultaneously coping with a stressful situation or executing a complex maneuver.