Open Surgical Simulation Platform Trains Trauma Surgeons and Surgical Residents

While surgeon and surgical educator Howard Champion was conducting research and training for improving U.S. military combat care, he noticed the need for the development of a simulation-based platform for training surgeons in open surgery. Hoping to address this issue, Champion founded SimQuest (Silver Spring, MD) in 2001. The company set out to develop a platform for open surgical simulation that would be useful for educating trauma — an unconventional idea at the time, since most research was focused on minimally invasive techniques rather than open surgery. The technology has also naturally evolved into a potential training tool for surgical residents.