For the first time in Gaumard’s history, its International Sales Meeting was organised in Italy, in the state-of-the-art premises of Simula Hub: here is the account of the experience.
The future of medical simulation is getting closer, both in time and space. This is the feeling you get when one of the world’s leading manufacturers of simulators chooses Italy as the venue for its international meetings.
On 18-20 April 2023, in fact, Gaumard’s International Sales Meeting was held at Simula Hub, the simulation centre created by Accurate in Parma. These days of training allowed international dealers to meet each other and talk to Gaumard’s main representatives, such as Dale Giedd (VP of Sales Europe/UK/MENA) and Carlos Chidiac (Regional Director MEA/India/Central Asia). For the first time in Gaumard’s history, the International Sales Meeting was organised in Italy, in the state-of-the-art premises of Simula Hub; a confirmation of how much the Italian clinical simulation market is gaining more and more weight and importance.
Gaumard presented its latest innovations, such as HAL S5301, one of the most advanced patient simulators in the world, and HAL S2225, a hyper-realistic paediatric simulator. HAL simulators replicate facial expressions with such a degree of verisimilitude that they can even speak, laugh and cry, making the educational experience more immersive and engaging. “Realism really makes a difference when you believe in the experience, when you really want to treat a patient in pain,” says Carlos Chidiac. Gaumard Ultrasound, the ultrasound module with 3D tracking, can be implemented on the entire surface of the simulator. Also presented for obstetrics training were VICTORIA S2200, a realistic and anatomically accurate birthing simulator, and Super TORY S2220, a neonatal manikin.
But why was Italy chosen as the location for this meeting? “We have a very good relationship with Accurate, our Italian distributor. They have been working on the development of medical education in Italy for years and have achieved very good results with Gaumard. We also recognise that Italy has a very strong influence in Europe and a great interest in clinical simulation, so we see it as one of the hottest places to grow the business and get good publicity,” explains Dale Giedd. “Another of Accurate’s strengths is their decision to expand not only in selling simulators, but also in offering training services, two complementary products that differentiate Accurate from other competitors in the Italian market,” adds Carlos Chidiac.
In fact, a variety of simulation courses are held in the Simula Hub facility, whose specialities range from obstetric surgery to emergency medicine to Train the Trainer for instructors. The Gaumard meeting confirmed the excellence of this space, which is designed according to an ‘open’ model. Emiliano Tizi, Accurate’s Marketing Manager, points out that ‘everything in here can overnight change completely, or be taken out of the simulation centre. (…) We talk about territorial simulation, i.e. the idea of moving advanced simulation out of the canonical context of the centre and placing it within congresses and training courses, so as to make these events more interactive and innovative’.
Among the upcoming events at Simula Hub, we can mention ‘a series of courses dedicated to loco-regional anaesthesia, which are our flagship thanks to the exclusive technologies we have at our disposal and which actually allow us to puncture,’ Emiliano Tizi tells us again. “In addition, we have the only course in Italy on the simulation of caesarean section and hysterectomy, and then the first edition of a course dedicated to trauma with a multidisciplinary approach will be inaugurated in June, where entire teams will be able to train together and share experiences.
If Italy is becoming a pole of innovation and development for clinical simulation, it is also thanks to facilities like Simula Hub, a centre where expertise and passion meet the most advanced technologies.
READ ALSO