CHIPS - Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation

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CHIPS - Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation The Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS)

The Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS) is a world-class facility 45,000 square foot standalone simulation facility located at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis.

10/13/2026

Over the last few weeks, the CHIPS directors have served as embedded participants in immersive scenarios, adding realism that makes simulated learning experiences more engaging and effective!

Shout out to the CHIPS team for helping make this happen!
10/03/2026

Shout out to the CHIPS team for helping make this happen!

Get to know our inaugural CHIPS interns from Rhodes College’s Health Equity Program! 🩺Livi ’27 and Jericah ’28 are excit...
09/29/2026

Get to know our inaugural CHIPS interns from Rhodes College’s Health Equity Program! 🩺

Livi ’27 and Jericah ’28 are excited to join the CHIPS family and explore the world of healthcare through patient simulation and health equity.

If you see them around the building, be sure to say hi!

Rhodes College

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/18/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team, telling how healthcare simulation found us!

This is the story of Xavier Agee, our Director of Operations, Technology, & Business Development:

The journey into healthcare simulation rarely follows a straight line. For me, it started unexpectedly as a student worker at the University of Southern Mississippi College of Nursing. My initial orbit was technical support—keeping a computer lab running and eventually learning how to power on, troubleshoot, and maintain the early generations of manikins. What could have remained a routine student job quickly turned into an incubator for innovation. For my capstone project, I built a computerized supply inventory system to bring order to the chaos of the simulation labs, laying an early foundation for how I would approach operational logistics.

That technical curiosity soon intersected with a major milestone for the institution. When the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) launched its landmark National Simulation Study in 2011, USM needed specific audio-visual capabilities to qualify for participation. Meeting those stringent research standards wasn't in the standard equipment budget, so I engineered a homegrown A/V streaming solution from scratch, successfully clearing the path for the college to join the national study.

Graduating in 2012 translated naturally into a full-time staff role, where the scale of the work expanded dramatically. I had the privilege of helping design the classroom and simulation spaces for Asbury Hall, the College of Nursing’s state-of-the-art facility, transforming architectural blueprints into functional, immersive learning environments. During this period, I also earned the Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) credential, becoming the first person in the state of Mississippi to hold the certification and marking a pivotal step in professionalizing the operational side of the field.

After building deep roots in Mississippi, the path shifted north to Memphis, where I joined the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS) as a Simulation Operations Specialist. Yet, professional trajectories often test our commitment by taking detours. I took a brief sabbatical from simulation entirely, stepping away to work in a broader institutional IT department. But simulation has a way of pulling you back in when it is in your professional DNA. The pull brought me back to CHIPS as a Simulation Logistician, reconnecting me with the hands-on environment of clinical education and operational problem-solving.

Returning to simulation wasn't just a homecoming; it was a springboard. From that foundation, I continued to grow, lead, and adapt, eventually stepping into my current role as the Director of Operations, Technology, and Business Development. Looking back, I didn't find healthcare simulation—simulation found me, steadily turning a student job into a lifelong career dedicated to advancing how healthcare professionals learn and practice.

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/17/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team, telling how healthcare simulation found us!

This is the story of Jamie Pitt, our Director of Education:

I didn’t go looking for healthcare simulation. Simulation found me.

I was a teaching artist, traveling full-time across the country leading week-long musical theatre residencies with K–12 students. From Sonoma to the Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux Reservation and nearly every Air Force base in between, I used storytelling, improvisation, and human connection to bring stories to life.

In 2007, an unexpected opportunity at Washington University School of Medicine introduced me to human simulation. I began working with simulated participants (SPs) and discovered a new world where the skills I had developed through the arts could help prepare future healthcare professionals.

Nearly 20 years later, I’m fortunate to work at one of the largest simulation centers in the country.

Turns out, I wasn’t leaving the stage behind. I was simply finding a new one—and another way for stories to make a difference.

Happy Healthcare Simulation Week!

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/16/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team, telling how healthcare simulation found us!

This is the story of Michael Khanlarian, one of our Simulation Operations Specialists:

Simulation found me almost by chance, much like theatre did.

I had already spent years as an actor and teaching artist when someone mentioned standardized patient work. I assumed it would be another side job.

What pulled me in was what happened after the encounter. Sitting with learners, hearing how they had experienced the conversation, offering the patient’s perspective, helping them think it through. I could see how tentative they were going in, and then watch something shift as we talked. I wasn’t only portraying a patient. I was helping shape understanding.

That felt familiar. Theatre and teaching had taught me to listen, to collaborate, to respond in the moment, and to pay attention to human behavior. Simulation gave me another place to use all of it.

Moving into operations widened the frame again. Now I think about the whole environment, the equipment, the technology, the flow of people through a space, and all the invisible work that lets a learner walk in and focus on what’s in front of them. A big part of my job is building functional spaces where learning can happen.

What I love about this field is that it feels both deeply familiar and entirely new. I have nearly twenty-six years of theatre behind me, and I use pieces of it every day. At the same time, I’m still learning healthcare, equipment, workflows, and new ways of thinking about the work. The more I learn, the more of what I already knew how to do becomes useful in new ways.

I found theatre almost by chance. Years later, simulation found me the same way. What I thought was just another job turned out to be something that keeps asking me to learn while still letting me bring so much of myself with me.

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/16/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team, telling how healthcare simulation found us!

This is the story of Chris Patrick, one of our Simulation Operations Specialists:

My journey to simulation, like so many others, was not a straightforward path. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of healthcare simulation until many years into my career. I do have a bachelor’s degree, which is a big help getting a foot in the door at a lot of jobs. However, I didn’t technically need a degree for my first job out of college. I was a photographer and buyers’ assistant at America’s largest used car superstore and auto auction company.

After a few years and a few lateral career moves, I decided I wanted a change of careers. I enrolled in a video production certificate program and got an internship with Alabama Public Television and then another internship with Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival. This got me connected to a lot of really creative and fun people and also introduced me to improv for acting and comedy. I started taking classes and performing regularly at the Birmingham Improv Theatre. This training comes in handy nearly every day, as in work and life, there is always the next pivot.

My next career move had me join the Guest Experience Team at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center. That was short lived, because in early 2020 the entire convention center had to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After a time of unemployment, I made the unexpected pivot into healthcare as there was a heavy need for staff. I started a 2-year stint working nightshift as a patient care technician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Psychiatric Medicine. I felt really good about helping people and found it fulfilling, however I found it difficult to see myself staying in the night shift and psych environment for the rest of my career.

I started doing research about what I could do, career wise, that included my audio-video, guest experience, and patient care experience. It just so happens that UAB has one of the first healthcare simulation master’s degree and graduate certificate programs in the world. I got really excited to learn about healthcare simulation. I figured I might go to graduate school eventually, but in the meantime, I started reading more about simulation, researching jobs in the sim world that I was already qualified for and ready. I applied at a few different sim centers and each time I got an interview, it was exciting to get a tour and to see all the amazing technology and to meet all of the fantastic people who work in healthcare simulation.

I finally landed my dream job, although, funnily enough, I hadn’t even heard of sims a year prior, as a simulation technologist, at one of the premiere world-class sim centers, Tennessee’s Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation, or CHIPS. I have subsequentially been promoted to simulation operations specialist.
It is outstanding getting to work with so many great people, and it feels very satisfying knowing that I am doing my part to help present day and up and coming healthcare professionals from so many different fields become successful. Since moving to Memphis to work for CHIPS, I now regularly perform with two different improv groups.

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/16/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team telling how healthcare simulation found us!

This is the story of Amanda Johnson, one of our Simulation Educationalists:

Sim found me in the makerspace of a public library in Arkansas working part-time in the Circulation Department while teaching high school English full-time. The makerspace was still pretty new and wasn’t fully staffed, so the Circulation Department were all taking occasional shifts to assist patrons in the different spaces with things like audiovisual recording, 3D printing, and a variety of heavy equipment simulators. When the library got a grant to expand their simulation offerings for community workforce development, I made simulation my new career, working with members of the community to upskill or reskill with skilled trades training in virtual reality, heavy equipment operation with motion-base simulators and original manufacturer controls, and even flight and driving simulators for a variety of vehicles.

In 2024, I saw a job posting for a sim specialist position at a new medical school opening in the area, and the idea of merging my education and simulation experiences sounded like a dream come true. Ultimately, I accepted a position building and managing the standardized patient program rather than working on the technology side, and I entered a world of simulation previously unknown to me. I collaborated with faculty and staff to develop and facilitate weekly clinical simulations with standardized patients as well as other simulation activities. In that time, I learned a lot about medical education simulation, standardized patients, and standards of best practice, and I had a lot of fun explaining what I do to family and friends.

Fast forward two years, and now I’m a Simulation Educationalist at The University of Tennessee Health Sciences’ award-winning Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS). As a new CHSE, I am proud to work in an SSH accredited institution (Core, Human Simulation, and Teaching and Education), where I primarily collaborate with faculty on high-fidelity manikin simulations. Five years ago I never could have guessed that I’d be working in healthcare education facilitating simulated learning activities, but I love being in a field that lets me merge so many different aspects of my own educational and professional experiences while still making an impact on my larger community.

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We wil...
09/15/2026

This year, the theme for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's Healthcare Simulation Week is "Sim Found Me". We will be sharing some of the stories from our team telling how healthcare simulation found us! Today we share our Executive Director, Dr. Tara Lemoine's story:

Tara Lemoine, D.O.,FAAP: As a pediatric critical care physician, I dedicated my clinical career to caring for some of the most vulnerable and sickest patients relying on safely on the complexities of high-risk healthcare environments. Through that work, I became increasingly focused on ensuring people had optimal learning for health care providers, reducing preventable harm, and creating safer experiences for patients, families, and healthcare teams. This commitment led me to the field of healthcare simulation, where I found a space to create an ideal learning environment. After a simulation fellowship, I was lucky to be a part of a team focused on building an in hospital-based simulation program and now at UT Health Sciences with experts in simulation serving 5 colleges of healthcare providers.

Francis the lizard 🦎 I didn't go looking for healthcare simulation... but today, simulation found me!While setting up th...
09/15/2026

Francis the lizard 🦎 I didn't go looking for healthcare simulation... but today, simulation found me!
While setting up the skills lab, there was an unexpected visitor-a tiny lizard who clearly wanted to expand their clinical knowledge.
Maybe they were here to observe suturing? Practice debriefing? Or just check out our manikins?
Whatever the reason, this little friend reminded us that curiosity, exploration, and a willingness to step into new environments are at the heart of simulation - for all species.

Society for Simulation in Healthcare

Address

26 S Dunlap Street
Memphis, TN
38103

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+19014484530

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