Dr. Phrampus is the Director of the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER). He received a B.S. in Biology from Old Dominion University and an M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. He completed residency training at the University of Pittsburgh where he now holds appointments of Associate Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Phrampus has been very active in patient safety efforts throughout UPMC. He is an active member of the Quality Patient Care Committee of the UPMC Board of Directors. He has overseen substantial programmatic growth of the institute including expanding the role of simulation education for practicing healthcare providers. He has overseen the expansion of WISER capabilities in developing a distributive model of management for the main campus of WISER as well as the satellites centers that have been deployed throughout the UPMC Health System.
Within the domain of airway management in the Emergency Department he led a team to create an airway algorithm and an accompanying difficult airway management simulation course specific to the practice of Emergency Medicine. This program has now been completed by over 200 physicians including the entire emergency medicine faculty staff of the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. This course and its safety oriented principles have been deployed across the emergency departments of the UPMC Health System as well as other institutions across the country.
Dr. Phrampus has an extensive background in Emergency Medical Services and serves as an active EMS medical director. He has deployed simulation technology for both testing as well as competency assessment measures in EMS services in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He co-authored a simulation course for flight crew training for Stat Medevac, which operates 16 helicopters, multiple fixed wing aircraft and employs over 200 crew members, flying over 12,000 missions per year. He led a team to develop a difficult airway management for EMS providers which is targeting the 2,000 paramedics in the Southwestern Pennsylvania area.
Dr. Phrampus serves in a leadership role in the national simulation efforts through program committee leadership for the Society for Simulation and Healthcare’s International Annual Meeting. He is an inaugural member of the Journal Simulation and Healthcare. He has traveled extensively around the world lecturing as well as conducting simulation workshops, demonstrations and assisting in proliferation of successful simulation start-up programs. In addition to the United states his education efforts have included academic institutions and hospitals in Australia, China, Tibet, India, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore as well as Germany.
He has been active in education for many years and was recently awarded the faculty excellence award by the University of Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine Residency as well as the Clerkship Preceptor of the Year award from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is a frequent lecturer on various topics in medicine. His interests in education include the implementation of technology into the world of education to increase the efficiency of learning and developing models of assessment methods for practicing healthcare providers. He has years of experience with computer system and electronics gained from his years of service in the United States Navy.
Barry Issenberg is the Center’s Assistant Director, the Assistant Dean for Research in Medical Education and Professor of Medicine. As Director of Research and Technology, Dr. Issenberg serves as Project Director for the development and evaluation of the new Harvey, the Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator and the UMedic Multimedia Curriculum. Currently, hundreds of medical centers worldwide uses “Harvey” and UMedic in their teaching programs to train over 50,000 learners annually.
Dr. Issenberg leads the research activities of a national consortium of clinicians and medical educators from 14 medical centers. The consortium has designed, implemented and published the results of several multi-center studies that have shown the effectiveness of simulation technology to teach and assess clinical skills. He also serves on several national and international committees related to medical education and healthcare simulation.
Dr. John M. O'Donnell completed his BSN from Carlow University in 1983 and his MSN from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991. He completed his Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) in 2009. John is well known for his dedication to the University and to the School of Nursing and is a Lifetime Alumnus. In 2006, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
His professional career as a nurse has spanned med-surgical nursing, oncology, chemotherapy nurse, PACU, obstetrics, ICU care, and since 1991- nurse anesthesia. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and has been Director of the Pitt Nurse Anesthesia Program since 1994 leading the program to a Top 10 ranking according to US News and World Report since 1998- one of only 3 programs in the United States to remain in the top 10 for this period. John currently Chairs the Community Advisory Committee of the Nurse Anesthesia Program and is active in the MSN/DNP Council and other School of Nursing governance activities. In 2006 he was named National Program Director of the Year by the AANA and is a Chair Reviewer for the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.
O'Donnell has been active in human simulation education since 1994 and has been Assistant or Associate Director of WISER since 2001. In 2009, he was honored with the Ake Grenvik Award for Excellence in Simulation Education and Assessment. John consults in nursing simulation efforts for undergraduate and graduate nursing education as well as for practicing nurses in the 19 hospitals of the UPMC health system. He is actively engaged as an Associate Director and serves on multiple committees at WISER including steering, research and publication.
O'Donnell is a member of the Board of Directors of the national Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) and serves as 1 of 2 CRNAs on the Board as well as on the APSF Education Committee. Areas of scholarly and research interest include medication safety, multidisciplinary simulation interventions supported by web based curriculum, case-based education in anesthesia, and epidemiology related to patient and provider safety. He has served as a consultant and speaker in safety and simulation at the local, national and international levels.
Geoffrey Miller is the Associate Director for Research and Curriculum Development in the Division of Prehospital and Emergency Healthcare. In 2003, the Florida Bureau of EMS named him EMS Educator of the Year. In 2000, he was recognized as Paramedic Instructor of the Year by the Florida Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators and served as that organization’s President. He is lead author of our Emergency Response to Terrorism curriculum.
Jeffrey Groom, PhD, CRNA is a seasoned educator, clinician, and researcher. Combining his clinical background and his doctorate in instructional technology focusing on simulation and experiential learning, Dr. Groom has utilized simulation-based instruction in teaching paramedics, allied health professionals, nurses, and physicians for over 20 years. During this time he has incorporated instructional simulation methodologies in numerous fields during his professional service in law enforcement, emergency medical services, military, hospital practice and academic settings. Combining his diverse professional and academic background, Dr. Groom has been a frequent invited speaker at numerous national and international venues. His research validating the psychological and physiological response of trainees during simulation and the role of medical simulation in improving medical decision-making under stress received first place award recognition at the 2006 International Meeting on Medical Simulation. Dr. Groom is an active member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare where he serves as a reviewer for the Journal for Simulation in Healthcare. In 2010, Dr. Groom received the President’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence from Nova Southeastern University for his innovative research and professional work in instructional technology and medical simulation.
Dr. Groom holds a BS degree in emergency medical services from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a BSN degree in nursing from Florida International University. He received his MS degree in biomedical sciences - nurse anesthesia from Connecticut State University. Dr. Groom received his PhD degree in instructional technology focusing on simulation from Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. Groom is currently Director and Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology Nursing at Florida International University, Miami, Florida and also an adjunct instructor for emergency medical instruction and simulation at the University of Miami, Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education. He holds medical staff privileges for clinical practice with the Department of Anesthesiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida.