A simulation based ‘phygital’ education model for empowering HCPs to provide the best-in-class care

Dr Amit Garg, Director, Medical & Clinical Affairs and Strategy Planning Terumo India highlights the importance of providing strong scientific training to healthcare professionals in India

Modern medical technology businesses have introduced several advanced technological products and applications for the healthcare industry. The efficacy of these devices depends greatly on the manual dexterity of the medical professionals using them. It is critical therefore that they are provided hands-on training in the use of the products. For example, if a company supplies an endovascular graft, then it often needs to support the surgeon in the operation room. Similarly, it is important to provide medical devices education and training to ensure that physicians and HCPS gain confidence and competence. This will result in the delivery of high-quality care and improved outcomes.

As a medical technology company whose products are the choice of medical professionals across the globe, Terumo considers it its duty to enable HCPs with the most advanced techniques and practices through its products and their use. Consistent with the company’s mission of ‘Contributing to society through healthcare’, we are committed to providing strong scientific training to HCPs in India, through relevant clinical and educational programmes and thereby enable better patient care.

Traditionally, we have always done these, face to face. We launched the Terumo India Skill Lab (TISL) in February 2018 with the following objectives:

• To provide dedicated knowledge & experience sharing facility for HCPs
• To provide state-of-the-art simulation on cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology for hands-on practice

Equipped with state-of-the-art simulation training facilities, which provide doctors and medical technologists with virtual training of cardiovascular surgery and cardiac intervention, TISL became a great platform to serve the community and advance the standards of care through pioneering academic initiatives.

COVID-19 created the need for rapid digital adoption

TISL was originally designed with an aspiration to achieve scale, but the new realities post the COVID-19 pandemic meant that we needed to accelerate its implementation.

We started conducting online education sessions, webinars with partners and scientific bodies, and started engaging thousands of KOLs covering various safe cardiovascular procedures.

This ‘phygital’ version of TISL was launched in September 2020. Designed as a hybrid of physical and digital interfaces, the platform aims to accelerate medical education for cardiovascular healthcare professionals in India. It is designed to include live events, digital colloquium and patient resources covering various topics such as safer cardiovascular.