Simulation HELPS Center Faculty and Staff

The HELPS Center's faculty represents the strength and uniqueness of the program. The Program Director has 14 years of simulator-based teaching experience and has been recognized for his expertise through local and national education awards. He has helped launch several simulator programs through personal on sight visits and hosting visits to the HELPS Center. He has also served as mentor to several simulator elective and fellowship graduates who have gone on to develop their own simulator-based programs. The director has also served as assistant medical director of METI and consultant to Immersion Medical.

Dr. Adam Levine has been one of the principle simulator faculty members since 1994 and was named Director of Simulation in 1996. Dr. Levine graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine in 1989, and since his graduation he has been an extremely important and enthusiastic member of the Mount Sinai community. After completing his internal medicine internship and anesthesiology residency at Mount Sinai in 1993; his last year as chief resident, Dr. Levine stayed on staff in the department of anesthesiology to take an active role in residency education and administration. Dr. Levine excelled in both these roles. Due to his administrative skills, passion and teaching ability, Dr. Levine was named program director for the residency-training program in the department of anesthesiology in 1996.

Dr. Levine is an educational pioneer who can be credited for signal handedly developing and conducting educational programs throughout the Sinai community using simulation. In addition to developing novel simulator-based curriculum to teach our own residents, Dr. Levine readily expanded the educational program by developing courses for medical students and other postgraduate trainees. Named Director of Simulation, Dr. Levine currently develops and conducts basic and clinical science courses for medical students, and many postgraduate physicians including medical, surgical, and pediatric intensive care fellows and residents. He also trains other physicians who are interested in developing courses, teaching, and programming the simulator and other educational devices.

Over the course of his career Dr. Levine has given regional and national lectures on simulation and its use for education and evaluation. He has also created and participated in simulator-based activities yearly at both the ASA and PGA annual meetings. In addition to using the simulators for education, Dr. Levine developed a program using simulation for competence assessment for independent institutions and state licensing boards. In 2005 Dr. Levine was a member of the ASA workgroup on simulation.

As a testament to his teaching abilities Dr. Levine has been named outstanding Anesthesiology Attending Teacher three times has received the award for "Excellence in Teaching" for all four years of medical school from the student body, received the first annual "Excellence in Teaching" award by the newly former Institute for Medical Education, was named alumni member of AOA, named "Honorary Attending of the Year" by the Emergency Medicine Department, was named "honorable mention" by the International Anesthesia Research Society teaching Recognition Award in 2006 and received the IARS teaching recognition award in 2009. For his educational efforts during the first year medical students physiology course having created and conducted simulator-based labs for the course, Dr. Levine was awarded joint appointment in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics simulation. He has also been named Vice Chairman of Education for the Department of Anesthesiology.

Dr. Ethan O. Bryson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the co-director of the Department of Anesthesiology's HELPS Center.

Dr. Bryson received his MD from the Icahn School of Medicine in New York in 2001 where he received the Dr. Joseph R. Jagust Award for excellence in Anesthesiology. After completing an Internal Medicine internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, he returned to Mount Sinai Hospital for residency training in Anesthesiology. Upon graduation, Dr. Bryson received the Senior Resident Recognition Award for Outstanding Academic Accomplishments during residency. As a supplement to residency training, Dr. Bryson completed a one-year fellowship in simulation education at the Mount Sinai HELPS center.

In accordance with the ACGME Outcome project directives, Dr. Bryson helped develop a system for evaluating residents in the six competencies using the simulated operating room environment. This involved developing a method for evaluating resident competency with patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and the implementation of a systems-based practice. Dr Bryson served as moderator for the workshop "The Use of Multi-Modality Simulator Exercises to Satisfy ACGME Core Competency Assessment of the Anesthesiology Resident" during the Society for Education in Anesthesia Meeting in Washington DC.

Dr. Bryson currently serves as instructor for a number of simulator-based courses at the center including the simulation based oral board prep course that he helped develop for senior residents and attending physicians and has published extensively on the utilization of simulation in medical education. Dr. Bryson served as a guest editor for the special issue on simulation of the Journal of Critical Care published in June of 2008. His current research involves the effect of emotional content on memory and the retention of protocols taught in the simulated environment.

Dr. Samuel DeMaria, Jr. is an Instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology. He earned his degree from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2006 where he was inducted into both the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Societies and received the UMDNJ Academic Achievement award for excellence in all courses and disciplines. After completing his internship at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, where he was named Transitional Intern of the Year, he started his anesthesiology residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Since arriving at Mount Sinai, Dr. DeMaria has had the distinction of being named the first Eliasberg Research Scholar, Resident Researcher of the Year and the Institute of Medical Education's Resident Educator of the Year. Many of his research projects are based in the simulation center and involve novel approaches to medical education and the use of simulation to detect and prevent medical errors. Dr. DeMaria also participates as volunteer faculty for the medical student physiology course problem-based learning discussions as well as the anesthesiology clerkship, for which he holds regular simulation sessions. He has developed and participated in simulation-based courses at both Mount Sinai and at national (ASA annual meeting) and international conferences.

Dr. Yury Khelemsky is an Instructor in Anesthesiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center where he works as an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist.

Dr. Khelemsky received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Following an internship in internal medicine at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Dr. Khelemsky completed his training in Anesthesiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center. After residency he pursued a fellowship in interventional pain medicine at NY Presbyterian Hospital Center/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Hospital for Special Surgery.

As a resident, Dr. Khelemsky planned and executed simulation based curricula for medical students rotating in anesthesiology and those completing their physiology coursework. Now, in addition to teaching medical students and residents, Dr. Khelemsky is pioneering a simulation-based curriculum for multidisciplinary pain management fellows.

Dr. Andrew D. Schwartz earned his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine. After completing an Internal Medicine internship at Cabrini Medical Center, he returned to Mount Sinai for residency training in Anesthesiology. Dr. Schwartz recently completed a one-year embedded fellowship in simulation education at the Mount Sinai HELPS Center.

Dr. Schwartz is a principle educator in the seven-week Introduction to Anesthesiology curriculum for incoming Clinical Anesthesia Year-1 residents. As the HELPS Center's Education Director, he is actively involved in simulation course development for medical students, residents and fellows. Dr. Schwartz is the Center's resident expert on the simulation of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), using novel and advanced technology as an educational tool for various levels of training, including pre-clinical medical students.

Dr. Schwartz's research has focused on simulation scenario development and the use of human patient simulators for physician competency assessment. He has been a key instructor in simulation-based courses at Mount Sinai and international conferences.

Dr. Alan J. Sim is a Fellow in Simulation Education and Liver Transplantation Anesthesia at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Dr. Sim received his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine in 2007, and he was awarded the Joseph P. Jagust Award for Excellence in Anesthesiology due to his work in education and simulation during his clerkship years. Following his internship in Internal Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was named Intern of the Year, he returned to Mount Sinai Medical Center and completed his residency training in anesthesiology.

Dr. Sim was one of the first residents to be part of the Clinical Educator Track at Mount Sinai Medical Center, a program focused on training residents to be superior educators in academic medicine. His roles included being a principle educator in the 7-week Introduction to Anesthesiology curriculum for incoming Clinical Anesthesia Year-1 residents, coordinating the medical school's 3rd year Anesthesiology Clerkship and 4th year electives, and as volunteer faculty for the medical school's physiology course for 1st year medical students. As part of the HELPS Center's educational team, he is actively involved in simulation curricula development for medical students, residents and fellows.

Dr. Sim's research interests focus on the application of video games and simulation to create novel learning tools. He has been a key instructor in simulation-based courses at Mount Sinai and nationally and internationally held conferences.