GORDON CENTER

Michael S. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D.Roles:ResearchInterest:Director Emeritus, Gordon Center forResearch in Medical EducationProfessor of Medicine, University of MiamiMiller School of MedicineApplication of simulation technology tomulti-professional medical educationVisionary, Innovator, EducatorEducation: Cardiology Fellowship,Georgetown UniversityDoctor of Philosophy,University of MinnesotaInternal Medicine Residency, Mayo ClinicPost Doctoral Research FellowNational Institutes of HealthMedical Degree / Master of Science /Bachelor of Science, University of IllinoisAwards: Alumni Achievement Award, 2012University of IllinoisDoctor of Laws honoris causa, 2003University of DundeeLaennec Society Special Recognition Award, 1998American Heart AssociationGifted Teacher Award, 1996American College of CardiologyBiography: Dr. Gordon joined the faculty at the Universityof Miami in 1966. In pursuit of a way to improvecardiac bedside examinations, he createdHarvey ® , the longest continuous university-basedsimulation project in medical education. TheCardiopulmonary Patient Simulator realisticallysimulates nearly any cardiac disease at the touchof a button by varying blood pressure, pulses,heart sounds, murmurs and breath sounds. Tocollaborate on the development of the Harvey ®curriculum, Dr. Gordon formed a worldwideconsortium of physicians, nurses, engineers,and educators known as the M.I.A.M.I. Group.The group’s role expanded over the years toencompass computer-based and hands-on skillstraining programs in cardiology, neurology, andemergency medicine.Few people have affected the educationof students and healthcare practitioners asprofoundly as Dr. Michael S. Gordon. Because ofhis “dedication, extraordinary vision and worldleadership in developing advanced technologyfor medical education,” in 2007, the University ofMiami established the state-of-the-art Michael S.Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education.A visionary is one whosees what most othersmiss, an individualwhose laser-likefocus on what canbe is not deterredby the variousreasons it mightnot be. From earlyin his 50-year careerin medicine, MichaelStanley Gordonestablished himself as avisionary and an innovator.He did not simply foresee theintegral role of simulation in medical education;he had the will, the tenacity to make it happen.As a pioneer in the application of technologyto medical training, he developed systems andprograms that have been used at nearly 2,000medical institutions worldwide. In doing so,he helped shape a new paradigm, leaving anindelible imprint on the way generations ofhealthcare professionals are educated.Even while capitalizing on the latest advances inmechanics—and, ultimately, computerization—Dr. Gordon kept central the approach toteaching he learned from his mentor, Dr. W.Proctor Harvey. His goal was to thoroughlyinvolve his students, utilizing sight, touch,and sound to better communicate his lessons,emphasizing these senses as the best primarymeans of diagnosing heart disease in patients.Recognizing that all the gadgetry in the worldis only effective when used with a well-devisedcurriculum, Dr. Gordon has ensured all programsadhere to the highest of educational standards,including outcomes-based evaluations.As a faculty member at the University of MiamiSchool of Medicine, Dr. Gordon first designed hiscurricula for medical students and residents, buthe envisioned the benefits his programs couldbring to primary care physicians and nurses whocould be better able to identify heart disease intheir patients. Since the 1970s,he saw the potential to expandprogrammatically to otherhealthcare professions. Thusbegan multi-professionaltraining of emergencypersonnel, includingparamedic-firefighters, U.S.Army surgical teams, andeven law enforcement. Thesimulation techniques usedso successfully to teach bedsidecardiology led to hands-on trainingbeyond basic and advanced cardiac lifesupport, encompassing trauma, disaster response,airway management, heart attack, and stroke. Not tobe limited by the number of providers that could beaccommodated on campus, Dr. Gordon, with supportfrom the Florida legislature, invited paramedicinstructors from across Florida to be trained to teachtheir own classes using curricula developed at theUniversity of Miami. This “train-the-trainer” approachopened the door to a new means of broad-baseddissemination that has led to hospitals, prehospitalsystems, and educational institutions throughoutthe United States, Mexico, Great Britain, and HongKong implementing their own Advanced Stroke LifeSupport ® training.When Dr. Gordon joined its faculty in 1966, theUniversity of Miami was one of only 86 medicalschools in the United States and relatively new,having graduated only 11 classes of physicians.Just a few years later, the era of managed carebegan and resulted in students having reducedaccess to live patients for learning. This, togetherwith predictions of a physician shortage,prompted a 50% increase in the number ofmedical schools and a bourgeoning of programsto train advanced practice nurses and physicianassistants. Dr. Gordon’s vision for alternative ways toteach medicine was prophetic. At the time, however, hefaced resistance and skepticism, as he challenged thelong-held tradition that students could only learn fromreal patients. He was undaunted and repeatedly provedthe doubters wrong, paving the way for simulation togrow into an accepted—now expected—means forteaching and evaluating clinical skills and an invaluableresource for research in medical education.For more than four decades,Michael Gordon’s efforts haveinfluenced healthcare educationworldwide by providing practicalsolutions to real problems.The most notable hallmarks of hissuccess are described on the followingpages, each with its own story, alla demonstration of his uncannyforesight, bold determination, andrelentless pursuit of excellence.As he assumes a new role asDirector Emeritus, his legacygrows, not only at the Universityof Miami and at the center hefounded and bears his name,but in healthcare institutionsall over the world.The Gordon CenTer for researCh in MediCal eduCaTion Visionary • Innovator • Educator 1