About

The MASTRI Center officially opened its doors on December 6, 2006 with the dual goals of providing world-class simulation and training in a cross-disciplinary setting to a diverse constituency and of providing a platform for innovation and research into simulation, training and practice.

Housed within the Department of Surgery, the Center resulted from the collaborative efforts put forth by the departments of Surgery, Anesthesiology, OB/GYN, and the US Air Force Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS). Support for the MASTRI Center is supplied in part by both the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Goals

The MASTRI Center at the University of Maryland is an innovative, research-driven, high-technology, state-of-the-art training center. Its goals are to lead in evaluation development and testing in regard to emerging simulation technologies and techniques and in the ongoing transformation of surgery and other medical procedures. Additionally, the Center is envisioned as a premier educational environment devoted to the training of healthcare practitioners across a diverse spectrum, with particular focus on how users learn and adapt to new technologies.

The Center’s mission includes improving patient safety, conducting world-class clinical research, training the next generations of healthcare providers, and facilitating those pioneer efforts that will ensure excellence in the medical practices of the future.

Learners

The MASTRI Center is a University of Maryland resource serving the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Allied Health Services, and the Medical Center in addition to the C-STARS program. The Center's wide array of learners, includes but is not limited to surgeons, residents, medical students, nurses, emergency medical technicians, military personnel, and allied health professionals.

A primary concern is ensuring that Center resources are tightly integrated into educational curriculums that provide skill enhancement for both medical students and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) residents. These curriculums include a variety of programs from airway management to intracorporeal knot tying. The MASTRI Center is certified as both a Level I – Comprehensive Education Institute by the American College of Surgeons and a certified testing center for the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Skills (FLS).

The Center also is host to in-house teleconferences, monthly national multi-center teleconferences, lectures, research, and large group sessions for resident surgical education (journal review, case studies, etc.), all of which help to develop staff skills and knowledge. Plans are underway to position the Center as a regional healthcare training resource.