“Some people don’t buy into simulation but I learned five or six things here today that I will put into practice,” says Frank Compolo, MD, an anesthesiologist from Syracuse, New York. Dr. Compolo travelled to Boston to take part in a crisis resource management course at the Center for Medical Simulation (CMS). After Dr. Compolo’s best friend got his required MOCA® Part IV points in one day at a simulation center, he started researching nearby locations.

Completing points for the Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology™ (MOCA®) program is a requirement of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ASA).  Part IV of the MOCA® program focuses on “Quality Improvement.” Participants must earn 25 points every five years by completing an ASA-approved activity like taking a MOCA® simulation course at an ASA-endorsed center.

Dr. Compolo found that CMS’ MOCA®/ACRN course checked off all of the requirements for MOCA® Part IV. He had participated in simulation during residency but the experience at CMS was totally unique. “It’s not the typical sim setting that you may be used to in a residency program, where you’re put on the spot; it doesn’t have that feel,” says Dr. Compolo. “This course has a view from 30,000 feet from above…it changed the paradigm of crisis resource management and talked more about the psychology of running an event.” Gaining a new appreciation for simulation, Dr. Compolo is excited to use what he has learned at CMS:  “I am going to relay all of this to the chairman of our department and the PACU manager, and I hope to become more involved with simulation.”

The Center for Medical Simulation is an endorsed program in the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Simulation Education Network and has ensured that this workshop complies with the American Board of Anesthesiologists’ Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesia MOCA® Part IV simulation requirements. MOCA® is a registered certification mark of the American Board of Anesthesiology, Inc. (ABA).