“W hen was the last dose of epi?” A small group of fourth-year Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students is gathered around “Stan,” who in just minutes has gone from outlining his symptoms to being nonresponsive, with a heart rate and blood pressure at dangerously low levels. With no time to consult textbooks or medical literature, the team needs to act now. Kaila Queen, MD ’15, who was diligently recording every aspect of the patient encounter, quickly consults her notes and double-checks the timer on her phone. “Three minutes.” “One milligram epi, IV push,” one of the members of the team calls out as he places a vial of saline, standing in for the required epinephrine, on the table next to the patient’s bed, adding to the previous medication the team already called for in the treatment of their now-critical, simulated patient. After advanced cardiac life support, a few expert consults and test results, and the dispensing of additional medication, the patient’s vital signs are now returning to normal, the underlying cause of the problem uncovered. A voice comes over the intercom into the simulation room: “OK, we’ll close the case here.” As the students file out of the Adult SIM room for a debriefing session to analyze the specifics of the case, what was done well, and what needs improvement, the simulation patient, a wireless mannequin named iStan, is restored to its presets, the medication chart and other equipment in the room are reset, and another group of students prepares to enter for the next case of the morning. The simulated exercises are the culmination of an intensive, twoweek “BootCamp” required for all fourth-year students at the medical school. Every student takes part in one of several BootCamps, each designed around a particular specialty. Just as basic training in the military is designed to provide new service members with the fundamental tools needed for them to perform their roles during the remainder of their tour of duty, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s BootCamps are helping its medical students focus on the skills that prospective physicians will need in their careers as doctors. The program reviews pertinent basic science topics, common clinical scenarios, essential resident skills, and upto-date evidence-based medicine. It uses didactic sessions Above: Rosalie Yan, ’16, listens for the SIM patient’s heartbeat, while fellow classmates (left to right) Christopher Massa, Joseph Berman, Neil Newman, Breton Roussel, and Kathleen Cappaccione check the monitors to determine progress. I Left: Instructors Dana Herrigel, MD, and Colleen Donovan, MD, view the case from the rear of the simulation room. and workshops, as well as the simulated exercises, to ease the transition from medical school to residency. “It’s a unique time for the students who are about to graduate. They are excited about starting their residency training, but a little nervous as well. The BootCamps are designed to help them prepare and make them feel a little more comfortable,” says Elizabeth Goodman, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, who piloted the BootCamp curriculum in pediatrics four years ago and remains the director of the Pediatric BootCamp. “We try to tie in all the experiences from the four years of medical school: the basic science aspects that were learned in the first two years, with the clin- 36 Robert Wood Johnson I MEDICINE