The Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA) Grants Committee recently approved a grant to the Michener Institute of Education at UHN in Toronto, providing a permanent product award to outfit 11 educational stations in the institute’s Temerty Advanced Surgical Education and Simulation Centre.
The permanent product award encompasses each of Olympus’ primary endoscopic and therapeutic areas of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urology. The award emphasizes Olympus’ commitment to patient care by helping the best-qualified third-party organizations implement educational efforts, build the trainee pipeline and support HCP proficiency in key specialties. The permanent product award includes:
- 10 GI towers
- 2 surgical towers
- Gastroscopes
- Bronchoscopes
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) endoscopes
- Flexible ureterscopes
- Flexible cystoscopes
- 4K surgical endoscopes
- SOLTIVE™ Premium SuperPulsed Laser System
- ShockPulse-SE™ lithotripsy system
- ESG-400 electrosurgical generator
- ScopeGuide™ GI navigation system.
The Olympus equipment award is part of Michener’s phase two expansion of the Temerty Advanced Surgical Education & Simulation Centre, which includes a full- size operating room, multipurpose simulation lab with 11 mini ORs and a 10-bay clinical simulation room, allowing fellows and residents to practice skills 24 hours a day on models and virtual reality. Enhanced audio-visual capabilities will also allow the opportunity to bring in surgeons from around the world for instruction. Learners will receive highly specialized training on new and innovative procedures.
Michener has 14 floors of teaching and simulation spaces. Labs and simulation rooms can accommodate small group learning, while the lecture spaces accommodate a range from 12 to 300 people.
The in-kind award of 10 GI towers is expected to help Michener expand its endoscopy program, which is projected to comprise up to 50% of its training courses. With the second phase of the Temerty Centre expansion, Michener anticipates being able to offer 25 programs for about 500 students in its first year, with plans to increase student volume in the following years.
Located in Toronto’s hospital corridor, the Michener Institute of Education at UHN – part of the University Health Network (UNH) – serves as a global healthcare training hub. Michener offers full-time, part-time and continuing education programs in health sciences.
The equipment, installed in June by Olympus, represents the first such donation awarded by the OCA Grants Committee to an institution in Canada.
“Olympus is excited to work with an organization whose goals align with our core values such as patient focus, impact and innovation,” said Jovan Reyerson, Sr. Vice President Strategy, Operations and Centers of Excellence, Medical & Scientific Affairs, Olympus Corp. of the Americas. “With access to training and technologies by students, fellows, residents and career surgeons, the Michener Institute is helping to make a meaningful and widespread impact on patient care.”
“This is an important contribution to surgical education and health care delivery at UHN and beyond,” says Dr. Allan Okrainec, Medical Director of the Temerty Advanced Surgical Education & Simulation Centre. “This grant will allow us to provide advanced training and education across multiple specialties in an innovative and team-based environment, which will ultimately improve the quality of patient care both nationally and globally.”
