The Sim Cafe~

Interview with Matt, Desiree, & Kellie @ IMSH

February 06, 2023 Deb Season 3 Episode 18
The Sim Cafe~
Interview with Matt, Desiree, & Kellie @ IMSH
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode, we meet with the new CEO of EMS, Matt Merino and we talk about his vision and thoughts about simulation for the future. Later in the episode co-host Jerrod Jefferies and I, interview; Dr. Desiree Diaz and Dr. Kellie Bryant where we take a stroll down memory lane and talk  about their contributions to both simulation and health care. Sit back relax and enjoy!

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of anyone at Innovative Sim Solutions or our sponsors.

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Intro:

Welcome to The Sim Cafe, a podcast produced by the team at Innovative Sim Solutions, edited by Shelly Houser. Join our host, Deb Tauber and co-host Jarrod Jeffries as they sit down with subject matter experts from across the globe to reimagine clinical education and the use of simulation. So pour yourself a cup of relaxation, sit back, tune in, and learn something new from the Sim Cafe.

Deb:

We're here live at IMSH, and today we have the opportunity to interview Matt Merino. Matt, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and we can get this started.

Matt:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me to begin With.

Deb:

Oh, no. Thank you for being a guest, and thank you for your sponsorship for t he O h, o f course. T he event. Y ep.

Matt:

Uh, so I am new to IMSH, I joined the organization about nine months ago. As CEO I have spent a vast majority of my career in the private sector working in education and more specifically healthcare education. Uh, so prior to here I was with Orbis Education, the leader. When it came to partnering in program management for nurses and therapists. We also were responsible for building out simulation centers all over the country. So during that time, I, I got to see a lot of what was being done and what was the opportunity to do more. Prior to that, uh, I spent time with Xerox on their education division, and it all started, my first exposure to simulation wasn't healthcare related, uh, time in the United States military Army special operations community where simulation was used in a lot of ways, in a lot of scenarios.

Deb:

Matt, we talked, we, I can call you Matt.

Matt:

Yeah, of course.

Deb:

Thank you. Of course. I, I just wanna thank you for your service.

Matt:

My pleasure. I appreciate that you appreciate it.

Deb:

Thank you. What has been your favorite thing so far at IMSH?

Matt:

So, I'll tell you, this is my first time at IMSH and, uh, what's been my favorite so far, the interactions with people from all different aspects, whether it's educators, whether it's providers, whether it's the government, whether it's our international attendees. What I find so exciting and what I'm liking the most is I believe we're all aware now of what the challenges are, and we're all trying to figure out how to solve the challenges. And when I say that, why that's so important is until we agree on what challenges are, you kind of just drift on solution, but I think it's getting clearer and clearer. What are those big issues that simulation can contribute to solving?

Deb:

I would very much agree. Well, welcome to first time. Thank you.

Matt:

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Deb:

Do you have a favorite simulation story that you wanna share?

Matt:

Favorite simulation story? Yes. One of our partners, children's Hospital. Uh, sometimes the greatest ideas when you're in an organization come from your partners. So one of our children's hospitals took simulation and as opposed using it to just train their staff, they're using it to actually train the parents for kids when they're discharged from the hospital to try to improve that at home care, reduce readmission better outcomes. And I thought, what a great use of simulation, because we forget how much care now happens at home compared to what it used to be.

Deb:

And not to mention, when you're in that space, and I think we talked about this yesterday, when you're in that space and it's your, it's your child or your loved one, you're not retaining anything. No. That everything's in that panic mode. So they simulate and do they videotape it and bring it home?

Matt:

So they, they do and, and, and, and they will actually put them through the simulation as many times as the parents want to do it, and they're measuring. Uh, one of the really great things that we've done and innovated is incorporating competency measurement data management into our simulation solution. So we can break it down into very small snippets as opposed to did they do well with the simulation or did they not? Let's look at those broken down competencies that live within each event and let's see which ones they did well on which ones maybe they need more practice on. And let's focus on that. Right.

Deb:

And I think until somebody can say, you're doing this right, you would have no idea. It was just like me when I started the podcast. So, you know, It, it's almost trial by fire. Right?

Matt:

R ight. Y ou just do it over and over a nd over, a nd eventually it becomes ingrained in you. Right. And you get to that comfort level. And one of the things we have to recognize when people are in any learning environment, and I don't care whether you're a student or a provider or a service member, whoever you may be, so much of learning is the head s pace. Like, am I in the right place to be learning? And sometimes it takes different people different amounts of time to get there.

Deb:

And I think too, it's, there's just so many variables to what gets you in. How do you get into your zone? Right? Right. How do you get into your zone? Do you know you're not in your zone.

Matt:

And, and I don't think a lot of people do. And and oftentimes when we don't have that objective measurement, and, and some of the things we're working on right now are how can we understand what the learner not only is seen, but what they're experiencing, what they're feeling while they're going through this to make sure they're in the right place for learning at the time.

Deb:

And I think something interesting when I think of that statement, I think of two people walking down the street at the same time. We're both having the same experience, but we're both gonna come out of there with a completely different experience.

Matt:

Absolutely.

Deb:

It's just like, you can go to a family of kids and each one of those kids is gonna have that same Christmas story mm-hmm.<affirmative> from a different lens,

Matt:

All told differently. Yep. All with different highlights within it. Yep. And maybe they walk out of there with the same overall feeling, but what resonated, what was the most poignant pieces are gonna be different. And when we're being learning and, and I believe in learning goes on education, what we do professionally, what we do throughout life is learning. Oh. And as you're learning, we all have different ways that it not only works best for us, but how do we help the people trying to teach us so they know what works best for us? That's the next, where we believe the next evolution is, is let's equip not just the learner, let's equip the people providing the education with knowing where their folks are.

Deb:

Absolutely. I mean, I most recently feel like if I don't learn something new every day, I feel like I've been gypped.

Matt:

It's a wasted day. I'm the same person I was when I go to bed, then I woke up. That's no good. Like I should try to get a little better each day.

Deb:

Right? Yep. Yep, yep. What surprised you most since you've arrived? Do you have anything that you sur

Matt:

Surprised? Good surprise. I love how open groups have been to discussion. I, I think that oftentimes when you come to events like this, I've been to'em in past lives where people are very protective of what they know. Right. It's, it's a, it's a holding on to that information. This community, it's really clear to me that let's talk about what we all think and know. And if there's one thing that I totally believe, there's not one organization, one company that's going to solve these problems. It's going to take an effort in a combination of multiple offerings, solutions, educators, practitioners, to get to where it needs to be.

Deb:

You're singing to the choir,<laugh>, when I like to say knowledge is power, but it's only power if you give it away.

Matt:

The, it's, it's the wonderful phrase of, boy, we've got a lot of intelligence. That's wonderful. Is it actionable though, right? Do we know what to do with all the things we know? Right. What do we do with everything we know? How do we actually take it and apply it to improve? Right. And that is what I've been most surprised about, is just how open everyone is to having those discussions, even if they're on a very high level. And there's a lot of companies that do similar things to, we do, we may have a bit different perspective, but we do some similar things and some crossovers. But even we're having discussions about what we think and whatnot. And, um, it's really wonderful to be some place where there's so much purpose behind the work. And I think that's what makes this unique in

Deb:

A way. What's your why, right?

Matt:

Yeah. And, and you gotta, there's a lot of things you can do to spend your time to earn a living and and whatnot. But, but I feel very privileged to be able to do something that matters each day. And more importantly, empower the people who do the work that matters.

Deb:

Yes. Yes. So recognize them,

Matt:

Enable them to be the best they can be and give them all the tools they need to do the best work

Deb:

They can. Right. Cause that's what everybody wants to do. They really wanna do the best job they can.

Matt:

Absolutely.

Deb:

Yeah. Do you have a question for me?

Matt:

So I'm very interested, I know come from a nursing background and I lived in that world for a long time as well. I'm very interested to know your thoughts as simulation in, in the nursing profession has seemed to almost gone into this hyperactive acceleration with Covid almost out of necessity. I'm curious, knowing your background, where do you think this leads to for, for that specific discipline? Because it's from a population standpoint and the volume of practitioners, one of the key, most important areas. I'm curious your thoughts on

Deb:

That. So my thoughts on that are that it's broken right now. And unless something's really broken, you can't start to fix it. So I think we've got, and like you mentioned, all the different industries that are really trying to partner with us and support us and help us. Because if we can work together with people, nurses, a lot of times hands a solutions because we have to figure it out ourselves because no one else does. Right? So as a, as a nurse, you always get that opportunity to like, take for example, this podcast. So I got here this morning, was a nervous wreck. My friends, the IT people helped me get everything set up, but it's about nurses are willing to take help from others. So it's about getting help from the bigger global community and how we can all make healthcare a, a better

Matt:

Place. That's great. It's a great perspective to have.

Deb:

Thank you. Do you have anything else that you wanna add?

Matt:

I, I don't. I just really appreciate that you invited me this opportunity to speak with you and, and for the audience that you do have. We're incredibly excited about what's next, what's, and we're really looking forward to being an organization that can lead to what's next and leverage technology so that all the people that we support have every tool possible to be the best they can be.

Deb:

Thank you very much and happy simulating.

Matt:

U h, thank you so much.

Bridge commercial:

Thanks to Matt Merino for talking about having purpose behind the work and talking openly together at his first IMSH conference. And now join Deb and Jarrod Jeffries as they sit down with Desiree Diaz and Kellie Bryant in the IMSH podcast booth to talk about making connections and the social aspects of IMSH.

Deb:

Welcome to another episode of The Sim Cafe. Today we're here with co-host Jarrod Jeffries and we're very excited to have Desiree Diaz and Kellie Bryant. Thank you for being guests on the show. Once again, we're honored to have you. And, um, all I can say is thank you. And you guys had us on your, your little panel discussion yesterday about social media and it was, we, we learned, I don't know about you, I shouldn't speak for you. I learned so much cuz he probably knows all that.

Jarrod:

Well. I just, I just loved your too dynamic. You guys are like Tom and Jerry.

Kellie:

That's what everybody says. The chemistry.

Jarrod:

So, yeah. Maybe that's not the right one. You get what I mean? It's just the so fun and you guys bring so much energy and spark and sending session yesterday so much joyful. And hearing the chatter afterwards was great too. So

Kellie:

Thank. you. We never get sick of hearing that, so thank you.

Deb:

Yeah. Your heads aren't gonna get too big. You won't be able to get

Desiree:

No, we might have to syndicated or Something.

Kellie:

I know. Make some money off of this.<laugh>.

Deb:

Alright, well what has been kind of your favorite thing about being at the, at the conference this year? Anything interesting?

Kellie:

For me, honestly, it's the networking. I love simulation, my simulation colleagues. So sometimes just bumping into people that I haven't seen in three years, having a great conversation. But what comes outta that? Oh, I, I would like you for this research project or I have this initiative I'd like you to be a part of. So the networking I think is what I enjoy the most. And just catching up and just having a good time with my simulation friends.

Desiree:

I'd have to echo that. It's, you know, the sim sisters semester just getting together. It's amazing what happens when you have that like-minded synergy. And it's not that you have to talk about sim all the time, every conversation, but you know, in two months I can pick up the phone and say, oh yeah, I saw that person. This person does that, you know, and if you're in other platforms and venues to have a familiar face, she's like, ah, okay, you get

Kellie:

Me. And we get to take our selfies and post it on social media and people run up to, I've been following you for five years, it's so nice to meet you. That's fun.

Desiree:

Hashtag Simulation<laugh>

Deb:

Jarrod you have any questions?

Jarrod:

Yeah, so obviously we've went through quite the change with the pandemic the past couple years. What has been some of your favorite things? You coming back? I last year, coming back now going on. What's, what's been your favorites? What uh, are you seeing differently

Kellie:

From last year?

Jarrod:

From the past three years, I'd

Deb:

Say, oh, okay. Oh goodness.

Desiree:

I think it's the energy number one. Um, you can just feel the excitement of people being around, but also the diversity in the mannequins and what's being offered. It's nice to walk around and see some different colors, all variation, tonality that you're seeing in the mannequins where just three years ago, I don't remember that, you know,

Kellie:

And I'm just happy to be back in person cuz I'm not really a zoom person, whether it's attending a conference or presenting. I love to see people, they're interactions, they're facial expect when I'm presenting. It's hard on the Zoom. I don't know if I lost them, are they following me? And then coming back here. It's just, I love coming back every year and seeing what's new. Cause every time I come back, this is the biggest vendor exhibit they've had. So what are the new products? I feel like, uh, a kid during Christmas I'm like, Ooh, what am I gonna buy next? And seeing all the wonderful innovations and now the whole XR and trying to figure out, well, which product do I wanna start with? So that's probably what I enjoy, you know, the most, particularly from three years ago till now, just being back in person

Jarrod:

Technical companies. So it's, you know, it's not Google or Apple of course, but you've really seen this new, uh, life of around, you know, gaming engines and, and sorts of the technical side, which is, it's, it's great to see new, new players in the game. It,

Desiree:

It's good to see new players, but it'll be interesting to see how they've learned to play our game. Like, you are bound by your institution, right? Right. You can't give me a yearly subscription that costs 20 grand. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I I can't do that. Or what is the price point per learner, you know, trying to get them to understand our constructs, you know, and it's different between private public mm-hmm.<affirmative> University, college community, college State.

Kellie:

But one of the nice things is that we are face t o f ace with these vendors so we can have a conversation. Like De siree i s one of the reasons why we have mannequins of different colors. She went to them and said, listen, you're missing something<l augh>. Yeah. And being able to give them th at f eedback. And if they're smart, they'll listen because we are the stakeholders, we're the ones using their products. So, uh, t hat's another thing I love about coming here, telling'e m w hat we need.

Deb:

Absolutely. Now who did you go to and how did you get that? How did you accomplish that? That sounds like something amazing

Desiree:

Back then. I had just started my doctoral work and uh, Pam Jeffries was my dissertation

Deb:

Committee. Imagine that. Imagine

Desiree:

<laugh>. And, um, just having those conversations and she's like, Desiree, you know, you don't have a problem talking, so make that opportunity, use that opportunity. And she was someone I really could relate to. She talked about her kids a lot. I've always talked about my kids. So she's like, if there's a an opportunity, just use it. So I was like, all right, whatever. So I stood up, it was an NLN 2008 conference and I, I was the director of simulation on four campuses at that time. And there were a$10,000 price difference between white mannequins and black mannequins. Wow. So therefore all the mannequins around the country were all white. I was gonna spend$10,000. So, um, I went up in the NLN forum and it was one of their biggest, um, what did they call them? Open, not open house, state of the union when they put the mics up there for everyone, whatever it is. Right. Um, and I just said, can you explain to me why I'm valued more in plastic than in person?

Kellie:

Wow. That was deep.

Desiree:

And I explained to them what it was. And then the c ompany reached out and said, you know, I value that. This is why it wasn't that we were trying to be irresponsive it, they had to shut down production of the entire plant and then add the coloring of the plastics and then redo it. Because at that time also there was like a four t o five m onth w ait for the black mannequin. Then they only had white o r black. And t hat, that just proceeded to be a, a catalyst of them coming back. Then they created h orror tones and then you'll notice now they no longer call their tones names. I won't tell you the name of the colors that they used to call it c uz you'd be able to figure out, so now it's l ight, dark, medium or white brown black versus other names to represent b ecause they were very culturally insensitive.

Deb:

That, that's, uh, very interesting and thank you for moving that forward. Yeah. How about you Kayla? Anything you've, you wanna share with us about how you've moved things forward and you have done a lot of things. I always, I enjoyed your, your first episode when you told me about all the things you were doing and yeah, so go ahead. Thank

Kellie:

You. I think a lot of it is just education. I think when you talk to other educators, they want to incorporate more d ei to the curriculum. They know what's missing, they know they need it, they just don't know how to go about it. So I'm grateful for those opportunities where I get to do webinars or faculty development where I can give them those, those steps to get them started and to kind of go over like, here are some things I recommend and these are some things that you definitely don't want to do as far as getting d ei into the curriculum and, and making sure it's threaded and not just a one and done type of thing. But also telling people too, you gotta work on yourself first before you can go and educate others. You need to really self reflect and see where am I at? Cuz I have my own biases. I wanna make sure I don't bring that forward when I'm teaching other students. So that's a lot of the work that I'm currently doing and in addition to what I'm doing at my university and at the center, which is also, yes, it's great to teach our students but also look at where we're at. I'm in a community that's very underserved, so I try to find ways that I'm not only here for my students, but what else can I do for this community using my students. Mm. So going in a community and teaching them hands-on CPR or going in and having them do training on opioid overdose, uh, prevention because we have such a high rate where I'm at going in and doing health fairs and we identify so many people that have high blood pressure with no primary care provider and connecting them to services. So it's kind of beyond just our students, but really like, almost like a service learning project. Taking them, you know, teaching them and then letting'em apply it in their own community. Those are some of the things I really enjoy.

Deb:

Thank you. Anything you guys want to ask us or anything? Do you have a favorite memory from I m MSA to any year?

Desiree:

It all, it all goes back to what we do after hours, you know,<laugh>, whether it be the Apple Party, I'm a big karaoke here,<laugh>, um, I'm horrible.

Kellie:

But if you couldn't find it, this IMSH. I was ready

Desiree:

<laugh>. I, I mean the, the last conference was I, Axel and I did rolling, rolling<laugh>, but they did the long version so we were rolling for a very long time. Rolling on the river. So that's,

Kellie:

Well speaking of rolling in the river, cuz we were doing that on, was it Saturday? The, the president's ball. I have to say, if I was gonna say a memory, we danced our butt off from whatever time for hours. Matter of fact, I think it was supposed to stop at 10 and we didn't. Yeah. We kept on going. So that was fun. As far as from this conference, I had a great time.

Desiree:

Just partying the ball is just, I mean, I look forward to it. Get that dress, you know, be out there. I have the flats so you can dance.

Kellie:

And also seeing my friends get their Fellowship

Desiree:

< laugh>. Y eah. So it's just a good time. I think it's a, a good time to connect, to promote other people you're with, to embrace and bring people along. You know, sometimes when they see us on social media or hear us on a podcast a nd people think you're u ntouchable, l ike, oh, there's Kelly Bryant< laugh> and i t's f unny. I was like, yeah, you w anna grab a coffee? You know, like you're, y ou're just a human Side.

Kellie:

But I have to say I was like that though. Cuz I remember like Susie, I was, I was obsessed with her. So, and when I saw I was intimidated by her and then I remember the first time she was like, come on, have a seat. I was like, I'm sitting next to Susie and you and Pamela Jeffries also was another one. I was like, oh my goodness. She knows me. And, and I get to talk to

Desiree:

Her dances too a Lot.

Kellie:

Oh, she has a good time not to talk about you. U h, Dr. J effries, but

Desiree:

Yes,<laugh>. And and that's another thing I like, I like coming here because it's part education, it's part networking and I have fun. Right. There's not a lot of those conferences where you can kind of do all three of those things. Yeah. And, and it's really seeing the giants that we all built our career on, on the human level. I really enjoy that. A book you use. Okay. Pagon says, oh, she's here. Go we'll find her. You know, I tell our doctoral students, I'm like, the people that's written our books are here. They're

Kellie:

Okay. And very approachable. Absolutely.

Deb:

Have you heard anything you wanna add?

Jarrod:

No, it's, I I just love the energy that you, you two

Kellie:

<laugh>. Yeah. If I had a dollar for every time we heard that.

Jarrod:

I mean, it is, it's, it's the connections that you make and, you know, thankful that we're back in person. And when it comes to, you know, connecting and networking is, is is the start. And then, you know, the solutions that are brought up after for the rest of the year, uh, here in 2023 is, is where the real magic is made as well. So this is part of it.

Deb:

Thank you so much. You guys have to go get your t-shirts. They're at the sim ghosts.

Desiree:

I just found the Booth.

Kellie:

O kay. Oh, you did find it. O kay. O kay. S o y ou h ave, I've been talking about it. I just haven't been able to find the booth, s o.

Deb:

All right. Thank you. And happy simulating.

Kellie:

Thank you. Thank you for having us back again.

Beaker Health Tag:

Thanks to Beaker Health for sponsoring this week's episode.

Outro:

Thanks for joining us here at The Sim Cafe. We hope you enjoyed, connect with us at www.innovativesimsolutions.com and be sure to hit that like and subscribe button so you never miss an episode of the sim cafe.