Overview

The Gordon Center, a designated Center of Excellence within the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is a global leader in healthcare simulation education and research. Established over 45 years ago, the Center aims to improve the training of health professionals and first responders, annually training around 20,000 first responders and clinical providers from Florida, the U.S., and worldwide. Over 2,000 medical centers and agencies globally utilize the Gordon Center's educational systems and training curricula. Occupying a 34,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, the Center is equipped for simulation, design engineering, production, and manufacturing, featuring advanced human patient simulators, a standardized patient training area, immersive trauma and disaster training areas, and various emergency response tools.

One of the Gordon Center's most enduring innovations is Harvey®, the Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator, first introduced in 1968. Harvey® can simulate a wide range of cardiac and lung diseases, offering advantages in portability and cost-effectiveness. It is used to train tens of thousands of learners worldwide and has a specialized curriculum for nurses evaluated across multiple nursing schools. The Center's flagship program in prehospital and emergency training, Advance Stroke Life Support (ASLS®) Blended Learning, is an innovative 2-part web and skills curriculum developed with the American Heart Association, making ASLS Blended a fourth discipline for the AHA’s network of training centers.

Our Journey Through The Years

Michael S. Gordon envisioned a space where innovation, simulation, and education could seamlessly intersect, beginning his groundbreaking work in medical simulation in the late 1960s. This led to the establishment of the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory in 1980, later renamed the Center for Research in Medical Education. In 2005, the University of Miami honored Gordon's lifetime achievements by inaugurating the Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education. Gordon's contributions revolutionized healthcare globally; as a practicing cardiologist, he saw the potential of simulators to enhance cardiac examination skills, leading to the creation of Harvey®, his first mannequin simulator, in 1968. In the 1980s, he introduced UMedic®, an innovative computer-based learning system designed to train healthcare professionals in life-saving techniques. The Center, home to Harvey® and UMedic®, and its largest division of Pre-Hospital and Emergency Training, offers programs to medical providers, hospitals, and health systems both nationally and internationally.

Our milestones include opening new departments, integrating advanced technologies, and achieving various accreditations and recognitions.

Our Commitment To The Future

To develop and disseminate innovative curricula for Florida’s first responders (fire-fighters, law enforcement, paramedics, military medics, and other public safety officers), medical students, nursing students, physician assistant students and practitioners in these professions.

To provide direct training to the target population of healthcare providers with a focus on those who respond to emergency and critical care situations.

To serve as a resource for these training materials, programs and instructors for other healthcare training and emergency response centers in the state of Florida, across the United States, and around the world.

To function as a laboratory and hub for research and development in the dissemination and evaluation of advanced multimedia, mobile and simulation technology to healthcare training.

We are committed to continuous improvement, community engagement, and fostering a culture of excellence and respect.

State-Of-The-Art Facilities

The state-of-the-art facility extends over 34,000 sq. ft. and houses a comprehensive training environment equipped with video-enhanced instructional classrooms, an emergency rescue vehicle, car for extrication of trauma victims, disaster response training area specialized for live tissue training decontamination showers and mock emergency department. The Gordon Center also houses the Miller School of Medicine’s clinical skills and standardized patient program that operates through ten patient examination rooms. The team of faculty, digital and multimedia programmers and simulation technicians develop innovative simulation systems in simulation engineering and fabrication facilities.

From advanced imaging technology to fully equipped operating rooms, our facilities are constantly updated to meet the highest standards of healthcare.

About Us

Overview

Our Journey Through The Years

Our Commitment To The Future

State-Of-The-Art Facilities

Our Team

S. Barry Issenberg, MD

Ross J. Scalese, MD

Ilmar Tamames

Timothy Coster

Alejandro Perez

Oscar Trigoura

Mario Zambrana

Adrian Gonzalez

James Ceavers

Julio Jeronimo

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