Future surgeons throughout the Midwest are able to get the training they need without major interruptions in their work schedules, thanks to mobile operating rooms that travel to different hospitals. Converted from trailers, the units allow physicians to practice at fixed simulation labs located at their own hospitals, the Chicago Tribune reports.
One such facility, a 36-foot-long state-of-the art training lab, has all the amenities of a regular operating room, including television monitors and a drainage system for biohazardous waste. Not bad for a converted trailer. But they're still fairly new -- only about 18 such units are in use throughout the U.S., the newspaper reports.
"It's really quite a leap in progress in terms of surgeon education, particularly for the areas that aren't within, you know, 20 miles of these fixed labs," said Dr. Vishal Mehta, an orthopedic surgeon in Geneva, Ill.
To learn more about the mobile operating room:
- check out this Chicago Tribune article