Day Four of our Seminar started off with the best way to start any morning: a trip to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Mitchell. We were introduced to the morning meeting, called grand rounds, where the chief medical examiner, forensic anthropologists, case and record managers, nurses, and many other healthcare professionals gathered to review cases and autopsies from the previous days. We were given the opportunity to hear the cases the office was working on, see pictures that were taken on the scene, as well as hear the official courses of action that were to be taken. After grand rounds, the Chief Medical Examiner took time out of his busy schedule to debrief us and have a conversation about his background and the work he currently does as the Chief ME. His passion for forensic medicine and its strong connection to public health was apparent, showing us the importance of forensic medicine, toxicology, and mass fatality management as functions of public health. Dr. Mitchell was an inspiration to us all, showing us the power of following your passion and exposing us to a field that many of us had not considered as a discipline in public health. After speaking with the Chief ME, the director of mass fatality management, Dr. Harvin spoke with us about his work with mass fatality management with a specific focus on how human remains are handled from a public health and emergency response standpoint. He discussed how the Medical Examiner's office reacted in mass fatality incidents over the past few years, including the Sandy Hook tragedy, Hurricane Katrina, and the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. It was a very eye-opening presentation that made us think about disasters in ways that are not on the forefront of people's minds. Both grand rounds and the presentation gave us a broader sense of what public health entails, and really showed us how interconnected all the disciplines are, especially within the field of emergency management. Following the presentation, we were given a tour of the autopsy room, the forensic toxicology lab, and cold storage - places where remains are brought, processed, ID’d, and stored. This tour gave us a better idea of the careers available in forensic medicine, and also showed us another aspect of public health considerations. After learning about the medical examiner’s office, we took a trip to the Val G. Hemming Simulation Center at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. We were introduced to the university by an admissions officer and then were split up into two groups in order to facilitate the tour. The groups went to the mannequin simulation operating room. In this room the mannequin is a fully functional mannequin. He is able to breath, have a controllable blood pressure, have a pulse, blink, scream and many other functions. As we progressed through the mannequin OR, there were more mannequins that the students operate on with different functions. We then progressed to a hallway with many clinical style rooms. These rooms are designed for medical students to work on bedside manner and clinical diagnosis with standardized patients (SP). These SP’s are trained actors that provide a real life setting in which a doctor will work in. Scenarios are set up through the 34 times the medical students visit this center. We then proceeded to the Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE) room. The WAVE room is a high tech simulation room in which the students are surrounded with screens and other equipment that simulates real life environments. This allows the students to practice in several select environments. So many controllable factors are available: the operators can control temperature of room, whether combat is present, motion (through 3D), sound, medical scenarios, and even scent. After experiencing the WAVE room first hand, we were ushered to lunch and then a very informative talk by Dr. Macri. She explained the in’s and out’s of her extensive, and experienced, career and finished with an in depth discussion on medical school admission. This portion of the trip was very helpful as she provided concrete facts that medical admissions officers are looking for. We wrapped up the day with a debrief with Captain Tosatto and Commander Payne.
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