Texas A&M System Signs Distribution Deal for Virtual Clinical Learning Lab

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 05/08/08

Texas A&M University System  has signed a license agreement with BreakAway Ltd., a developer of game-based technology, for the worldwide rights to Pulse!! The Virtual Clinical Learning Lab. Pulse is a federally funded project in development at the Corpus Christi campus that allows medical professionals to practice decision-making protocol and experiential skills on PCs in a virtual hospital setting. The agreement grants BreakAway the rights to develop, market and distribute Pulse.

The Pulse project is directed by Claudia L. McDonald, associate vice president for special projects at the Corpus Christi campus. The genesis of the software is to address educational and training issues presented by the growing healthcare professional shortage.

"The BreakAway agreement is a giant step for Pulse," said McDonald, who oversees an international project-development team of medical subject-matter experts, learning researchers, and virtual-world technology specialists. "We've moved well beyond theory to the implementation of this technological advance in medical education and simulation."

Pulse is currently being tested at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT; the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD; and the Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, MA.

BreakAway will continue to work with the school on its development efforts. In addition, the agreement grants the vendor the rights to further develop and market the virtual learning platform and its accompanying technology portfolio, including the hardware engines, software, simulation models and developer tools. The first application of the technology will be to develop a dental implant training simulation to better train dental students in decision-making protocol and clinical skills needed for dental implant procedures.