An Honest Conversation: Insights from a SimRated Partner

Jack Hunter, Principal of Toledo Pre-Med and Health Science Academy

At SimRated, we aim to revolutionize healthcare education by bringing real-world industry expertise into classrooms. We recently had the privilege of sitting down with Jack Hunter, Principal of Toledo Pre-Med and Health Science Academy, to discuss his school’s experience with SimRated. His candid feedback highlights the passion, challenges, and rewards of implementing hands-on, practical learning for students.  

Jack shared how SimRated has helped bridge the gap between virtual simulations and real-world applications, giving students the tactile experiences they need to build confidence and empathy in healthcare settings. This is incredibly impactful for underserved communities, where access to such opportunities is often limited.  

This isn’t just a glowing endorsement—it’s an honest look at how a school is navigating the integration of cutting-edge tools and training like SimRated.

Jack’s story offers valuable lessons for educators looking to expand their programs and provides practical advice for overcoming common obstacles. Whether you’re curious about SimRated or exploring ways to enrich your own curriculum, this conversation is packed with inspiration and actionable insights.

Read the full interview to learn more about Jack’s experience and how SimRated can transform learning for your students!

Interview Transcript

Jen Gibson, SimRated 0:00  

I've been working with Dr Ricks, and he's such an amazing human. Not only is he a doctor, he was an RN, he was a lifeguard, and he works at UC Irvine. we met through a mutual friend in education here in California, and it just has been a great partnership. His story is so compelling, and the work that he's doing for students is totally my passion. So that's how I came into play with this. 

Jack Hunter, Principal of TPS Magnet Schools  0:48  

So, yeah, his story is, what kind of got me to, you know, to buy into him. I mean, yes, the product's nice, and, yes, there's a lot of value in the product, but you know, really,

you're buying the mission and, and that's kind of where I look at it, as, how do we bring industry expertise into the classroom with educators,

yeah, and, you know, find a way to, you know, monetize that for student benefit and put in our industry partners,

Jen  1:30  

yeah, yeah. How did you find out about Dr. Ricks and SimRated? 

Jack  1:34  

So, you know, that was, I don't know if I really remember. I it might have been, you know, you know, you know what it was, through HOSA, okay, okay, through HOSA. And, you know, being kind of interested in technology, you know, we kind of thought, let's start small, and kind of, you know, pick some easier modules, because at that time, you know, our school was in its infancy, and we only had freshmen. So I said, let's, let's do some basic ones.

We did, we did the ankle taping, we did blood pressure monitoring, and those were some of the basic ones that we started off with.

Jen  2:19  

Oh, that's great. And, and, yes. And Dr. Ricks, his wife, was also an educator. And then she, she was a, you know, very involved. And by trade, it works in athletic training and coaching. So that is just, that's why those are such great courses because she had a lot of input in those,

Jack 2:42  

Yeah. And, I mean, it makes sense for students, you know, we have a sports medicine pathway, a Nursing Pathway and a pre med pathway, so it made, it made organic sense to let the kids see what it's like. A great, you know, everybody likes that tactile thing in instruction. Kids like it engagements there, and it's not a clunky piece of curriculum. It's, you know, it's there. And, you know, kids could, I mean, in essence, most of the things we want, students could drive it themselves, right? So it's literally alert. You know, remember the old days we'd have learning centers, yes, or you would have kids, you'd have tri fold boards, and kids would go back to that learning center when they got done with their work. And we'd rotate centers. We'd look at it in that kind of sense as well.

Jen  3:30  

Okay, so does this facilitator have to really be trained in it? Were the kids able to do it without that?

Jack  3:36  

There was no educator other than myself who did ankle taping. It was all done off of YouTube videos, and it was checked it was checked off. We had a physical therapist kind of look at it and look at some of the kids. And then we had mass kids that were deemed as competent, yeah, by a physical therapist. And then those students then became the teachers and so so on. So we really let it that way. Okay, the blood pressure, yes, that was done by one of our nurse, nurse instructors. We have we did the hand washing that, that, that was done by a nurse instructor as well, but the ankle taping was driven all by students as a center, we still do it that way.

Jen  4:19  

I love that. Now. Do you so one thing that I always like to talk about and just think about, because, like you, I love technology and everything that it offers, especially when it comes to equity and access. How does this differ, though, from, say, like simulation, what are you seeing on the ground with that?

Jack  4:41  

Well, most of the time because we're, we're, you know,

85% free reduced lunch school. We're 75% minority. We're located in an urban environment. All our kids get our simulations.

Yeah, so you know what I mean. This is an actual thing where people are. Afraid to touch.

And I think that with them being in healthcare, they're able to touch another human and feel that connection, that that connection of, I'm doing something to help you. So to me, it's been a way to really broaden their empathy for others,

and also a way to have a, I mean, yeah, you have gloves on, sure, you know, you're not physically touching them, but it's been a way, like, Okay, this is someone's foot. Most people are, you know, they'll, maybe don't like feet or whatever, but I'm performing a task to help another human. And it's crazy. Like our kids have embraced that, like, you know, they'll, they'll have their foot hanging out with somebody taping in the hallway at an open house. Yeah? So, you know it's the short answer is,

anytime kids can do something and see something, it's better than just seeing something to emulate.

Jen  5:55  

Yeah. Now that makes a lot of sense. And now had, so you said they when you first started, you were starting with the freshmen. How many years have you been using Sim rated and where, like, how many do you have all the way through senior? Now? Or

Jack 6:11  

No, we're through juniors.And just to give you a little bit of an idea, we'll, we'll use the hand washing video. We we use all different kinds of so we've used like transfer.

We've used their hand washing simulation, where you hand wash through VR, and it gives kids the sense of washing hands, but it's different than them physically doing it and physically being inspected.

Yeah, just because you do it in VR doesn't mean it's you're not going to have dirt on your fingernails doing it, live with somebody checking it. Can that be an extension activity? Yes, because of extension activity, but nothing replay replaces in our world, in healthcare, human-on-human interaction and the checks and balances,

Jen  7:00  

Right? Well, and I think the reality of that sterile field comes into play. So realistically, when they're, they're seeing, Oh my gosh. I washed my hands, I did all this, and then I touched this.

Jack  7:15  

Oh, 100 100%

Jen  7:17  

Oh gosh. And so All right, so you have the juniors now. Are any of them starting to get internships at this point, or does that come later? 

Jack 7:27  

That that comes later? Okay, so they'll that'll come their senior year. So a lot of our students are earning their associate's degree at our high school. A lot of them already have. They'll get, like, sterile, they're getting all kinds of credentials and things like that. So they're going to leave with a career. But no, the other one that we use for SimRated is the ECG placement. So that leads to an electrocardiogram certification in our state, they have to be 18, so it gives them a little bit of a background on what ECGs do, and, you know, what's their role in healthcare? Okay, so that's those are the four that we use. And then we always are looking to add different ones on once we you know how curriculum is, yeah, teachers gets, you know what? I mean. It's, it's, it's a slow process.

Jen 8:23  

Yeah, definitely. So do you think like, just from the feedback that you've gotten from the teachers and the students, are they feeling like one they're understanding more about the healthcare, career profession, and then the second part is, do they feel like they're being better prepared to go and find a job in that, you know, area, 

Jack  8:46  

I think, for the ones that we picked, it's, it's helping them see the different career fields. So we're using this more as exploratory type thing, okay, just as we get more towards a more sophisticated one that he's creating, yeah, then I can see where that would be more along those lines, okay, we did this to get buy in from staff and from students on some low hanging fruit, okay, to just kind of get buy in from everyone.

Jen 9:19  

That's great to hear that. And do they are they? Are they starting to buy into it? Or what? What is yes, okay, yeah.

Jack  9:27  

So, you know, we have our sports medicine educator who has a, you know, who does taping in the classroom, our nurse, one of our nurse educators, does the hand washing and the ECG and the blood, blood pressure monitoring. So, yeah, so be we, it's in, it's ingrained in the curriculum. Okay? We also use project lead, lead the way. So some of that stuff coincides well with that, right? You know that that's some well done curriculum as well. So we, you know, we've been through Buck Institute. PBL training. So, I mean, yeah, we've done PBL, 101 and 201 so we, we've done some, you know, some major lifting. When we look at, how does that integrate into a PBL, how does that integrate into a center? So that's kind of how we, we, we premise it to our kids, okay?

Jen  10:18  

And then, as far as, like, I know this, a lot of this is new in your particular region. You know, how are they looking at students as potential employees with this background, is there some sort of priority that they're getting or recognition because they've been certified, or is that starting to take off at all?

Jack  10:43  

It is very slowly. Micro credentialing is very, very slow. Out here, there are some for specific things, like human resources and those fields, the micro credentialing is a little bit more. You know, somebody's been through harassment training. They've been a micro credentials. Credential or something like that. That's a bit more in the HR realm, in our area, okay, you don't see it as much in healthcare or in academia yet. So that's something that I've not pushed a lot. I've used it for as, hey, this is great. This is a great piece of curriculum. Let's use it. Let's figure out what we what we know about it, what we learned, what's the outcome, and then where do we go from there? Right,

Jen  11:28  

Right, yeah, because that's one thing we've been looking at is, how can we work with employers to say, you do you don't have to ultimately hire this person, but would you give them an opportunity to interview because they've done these things, or would they have some sort of, you know, I don't know, benefit because of it. And so that's, that's the ongoing conversation we keep having. I know in the semiconductor world, they are looking at that, but yeah, healthcare seems to still be there.

Jack  12:04  

It's the stigmatism of age and so I think that's the biggest barrier. Is, you know, we were able to get some of the ages lowered for hiring just because of astigmatism and my arguments been so if a student graduates when they're 17 and they have a high school diploma, you'll hire them, but you won't hire them when they're 17. So what is the difference between a 17-year-old graduate and a 17-year-old, and how do we quantify the the development of their brain in a matter of a month? So those are conversations I'm having with Chief Human Resource Officers, and we've had some success. We've been able to get kids hired at 17 now, farm pharmacy technicians having those conversations because there are shortage areas, okay, but they're in their antiquated systems. And, you know, unfortunately, lawyers drive everything.

Jen  12:56  

Yeah, so that adult piece with like, HIPAA, okay, 

Jack  13:03  

But are, are you an adult at 17 with a diploma? No, but you're a high school diploma. So, so where's the ones if somebody graduates at 16, the diploma? Yeah, you won't hire them because they're not 18, but they're a high school graduate. So it's, it's getting people to understand that seven years ago was like that, I think years so that's going to change, but hopefully California moves up a bit, because if it happens, there comes out to us.

Jen 13:29  

Right, and that's there's just a lot of of conversations and whatnot. And you and like you mentioned, it's the industries that have the biggest need that are moving faster and yeah, yeah. So as far as you know, anything else that you can think of that you'd like to share with me just on your experience with SimRated and working with the team like, as you know, we're a startup. We're growing. We're really trying to listen to our customers, anything that you would share with us, as far as a team, and how we can better prepare for the future.

Jack  14:09  

What I think would be beneficial is for existing customers, when he's creating a new product and when he's got a you know, what would be beneficial would be, Hey, Jack, here is our sterile field. Here's one package of our sterile field, template of what we do. Try it with your school. Provide some feedback to us. Do you think it would work for us? Because that's going to lead to a purchase. Yeah. So I think that's the that's the hang up. Is okay, we want to purchase this, but we don't know that it's going to work in academia, because it's new.

Jen  15:14  

Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. And I know we've even had some instructors that that would say, Well, I'm not trained in this. How am I supposed to facilitate the learning? And what you mentioned is, like, I'd love to have a case study on how you guys have set it up, because you don't have to be trained. You just have to be a facilitator.

Jack  15:35  

Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, you know, it's like, I would buy all of them, but I have to see how they work. Okay?

Because I'm not, I'm not a practitioner in that field. I'm an educator, I'm the principal, so I'm the lead learner, yeah, so if I model it at a staff meeting and get buy-in for it, it leads to a purchase.

So career tech, it's not a funding issue ever, yeah? I mean, it's really not funding. We have so much funding. Okay, it's that there are so many things coming at us to purchase.

Jen  16:07  

So as far as that model, where you get to try it out, describe that for me, like, what would be the best case for you in that?

Jack  16:16  

So let's say, for instance, I think he's got what? Let's he do, like an EKG, he does like a, I'm trying to think of a recipe. Doesn't seem a respiratory therapy, one where you're putting, like an incubation tube in. 

Jen  16:29  

Yes,there's intubation, and then there's IV placement. 

Jack  16:33  

Okay, so, so here, here Jack, here is our Here's one. Here's a Demo Kit. I want you, I want you to try it, or someone without healthcare experience, I want you to try it, provide us feedback on how the instruction was okay, and is something that could be used, and then have your nurse educator try it and see what works for them, so that it can be something that can be exploratory at a younger Age, but then provide you guys feedback. Hey, within the instructions, we got hung up here and we didn't know where to go for a resource with incinerated, you know what I mean, where maybe there's a QR code link. Hey, here's a video on the proper placement of IV, you know, or, you know, that's just my thing.

Jen  17:21  

I think that makes a lot of sense. And I would, I would feel the same way not being a healthcare professional. So I would like to try it and see if it is, in fact, possible for me to do this. Do I feel successful? Yeah, I like that a lot. And I like this Demo Kit idea. I think that's really a neat way to get people, you know, involved with it. 

Right, right. I love that. Well, this is, this has been super helpful. Jack, I know you are so busy, I just want to make sure I honor your time. I appreciate it, and I think you know, we would love to maybe reach out to you so and get kind of your how you're you're set up to just share that, because a lot of our, you know, folks are like, Oh, what do we do? How do we even get started? You know, that's that would be great. Well, not a problem at all. I hope you have safe travels, and we'll be in touch. Alright, have a good evening.