Daniel Prince
EMS personnel, nursing students, and pharmacy students will all benefit
The Spartanburg County Foundation awarded the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Spartanburg a grant to purchase a new simulation manikin of color. Often, medical students only see Caucasian skin tones in textbooks, labs, and simulation situations, which means they are underprepared to diagnose and treat conditions that present differently in real life. They say darker skin can present different variants, subtle disease presentations, and disease manifestations that require unique management, all of which can lead to misdiagnoses and delays in treatment. It will also strengthen the school’s diversity and inclusion efforts among current and prospective students.
A minimum of 324 medical students per year will benefit from the simulation manikin. The school also uses the simulation manikins to train Spartanburg County EMS personnel, nursing students from the Mary Black School of Nursing at USC Upstate, and pharmacy students from Presbyterian College, meaning that 500+ students will benefit from it.