Prostate Cancer

As a first-year medical resident, the young anesthesiologist is almost as green as his hospital scrubs.

Indeed, he's never actually done this sort of thing before.

The operation will not go well.

But then, that's the point.

The young anesthesiologist and three fellow first-year residents have gathered here to practice hands-on medicine in real-time, real-life situations.

They are surrounded by the tools of their trade: A beeping monitor displays jagged red and green lines indicating John's heart rate and blood pressure, an IV drips into his arm, the bellows of a respirator whoosh up and down in time with his breathing.

The only thing not real about the scene is John.

He's a “patient simulator,” a high-tech and surprisingly lifelike mannequin who tonight will also portray a healthy 32-year-old man with a bad knee, a 55-year-old man suffering from a hernia and a 70-year-old woman with rectal cancer.

Over the next three hours, John will unexpectedly come out of anesthesia during surgery, develop bronchospasms in his lungs, experience a severe allergic reaction and, in the midst of getting his prostate removed, have heart trouble requiring multiple electrical jolts from a defibrillator.

Sometimes John su...

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