~ Press release provided by Laurel Ridge Community College
MIDDLETOWN, May 20 — Surgical technology students at Laurel Ridge will soon have the benefit of training on LAPSIM® surgical simulators thanks to the help of U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. The senators secured the $305,000 needed to buy simulators for both the Fauquier and Middletown campuses as part of a congressionally-directed Labor-Health and Human Services-Education spending package.
Surgical technologists are a crucial part of the operating room team. Their duties include preparing the surgical environment, readying patients for surgery, holding retractors and cutting sutures.
Surgical technology graduates of 2023 and 2024 had the opportunity to participate in mock surgeries, including appendectomies, hysterectomies and cholecystectomies (gallbladder removal), using simulators that were brought to the Fauquier Campus by a representative from Surgical Science, which supplies the LAPSIM®, for a demonstration in March 2023.
That month, Laurel Ridge applied for congressional funding to obtain the simulators. In addition to allowing students to virtually experience the surgical environment and gain necessary skills, the LAPSIM® provides instant feedback to them. The college recently learned the funding was approved.
“We’re glad to have helped secure this funding for Laurel Ridge Community College to train future surgical technologists and assistants,“ said the senators. “This funding is an investment in Laurel Ridge and its students, and also the greater health and wellbeing of our communities at a time when we are grappling with health care provider shortages.”
Tina Putman, director of the Surgical Technology program at Laurel Ridge, said she is “thrilled” the college will be getting the state-of-the-art simulators.
“These new simulators will provide our students with hands-on experience that was previously unavailable, significantly enhancing their training and preparation for real-world surgical environments,” Professor Putman said.
For more information on Laurel Ridge Community College,
visit https://laurelridge.edu/
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