ALSO Training Brings Medical Professionals to Amarillo

Physicians and nurses from across the region and as far away as Switzerland attended the simulation-based training.

• By Kelly Podzemny
• August 22, 2016

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine in Amarillo hosted the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) training program for the ninth consecutive year Aug. 12-13. The two-day multidisciplinary event attracts physicians and nurses from across the region seeking continuing education hours.

The SiMCentral medical simulation center inside TTUHSC-Amarillo’s Wallace building served as the venue for the ALSO course. The facility’s state-of-the-art patient simulator mannequins made it possible for attendees to train in a controlled clinical scenario before they encounter these situations in their jobs.

Designed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, ALSO is an evidence-based training program that helps maternity care providers better manage obstetric emergencies during pregnancy. The program has sought to improve outcomes for more than 20 years through its unique mix of hands-on simulation training and team-based approach that strives to reduce communication barriers. Physicians can earn 17 hours of Continuing Medical Education. Nurses earn a similar number of Continuing Nursing Education hours.

“Simulation hands-on training in managing obstetrical complications better prepares doctors, nurses and providers to deal more effectively with emergencies in all parts of pregnancy, and to work better as a team,” TTUHSC OB/GYN Medical Director Paul Tullar, M.D., said 

Iterations of the ALSO course have previously been sponsored on the TTUHSC campuses in Lubbock and the Permian Basin. Faculty members from multiple campuses collaborate to make the courses possible each year.

Instructors from Dallas-Fort Worth and Lubbock traveled to Amarillo to present at this year’s course, as did medical professionals from several regional hospitals. In addition, Joseph Osterwalder, M.D., head physician at Kantonsspital in St. Gallen, Switzerland, journeyed to Amarillo to participate in this year’s program, giving the local ALSO course its first international attendee.

“We believe our resident doctors and delivery nurses do a better job in caring for pregnant patients, laboring mothers and newborn babies because of our regular practice managing obstetrical emergencies in the ALSO course,” Tullar said.