His name is Vic — though he can become Vickie with a quick anatomical swap — and he can teach nurses how to place IVs or catheters. He can teach doctors how to get breathing tubes down a patient's throat, or how to re-inflate a collapsed lung, or how to diagnose disease.

On this day, he's having chest pain.

''Mr. Vic, what brings you to the hospital today?'' Dr. John Tomada, a second year resident, asks the dummy in Summa Health System's Virtual Care Simulation Lab in Akron City Hospital.

''I've had chest pain all day,'' Vic says by way of Scott Atkinson, the lab's coordinator, who's on the other side of a one-way mirror talking into a microphone.

''Could you describe the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most painful?'' Tomada asks.

''It's about an 8,'' Vic answers, before the room is filled with the high-pitched sound of the heart monitor flat-lining.

''I think we've got a v-fib,'' Tomada said, using shorthand for ventricular fibrillation, or a heart attack. ''Mr. Vic? Mr. Vic? Let's do a shock.''

Even after a jolt from the defibrillator, Vic still has no heart beat. Tomada begins CPR. In less than a minute, Vic has a pulse and is breathing again. Tomada orders blood work and a transfer to the intensive care unit.

The assembled doctors and nurses applaud.

Tomada did everything he was supposed to. But Vic's real value comes when the doctors or nurses take a wrong turn, said Dr. Brad Martin, Summa's head of critical care.

''We can literally stop and say, 'You should have done this. You should have done that. Let's start over,''' Martin said. ''You can't do that at the bedside.''

Martin oversees the intensive care unit and he's seen residents who are unsure or tentative.

''If they're uncomfortable with a procedure,'' he said, ''we'll bring them over here and get them comfortable with it.''

When Martin went to medical school 25 years ago, there were no lessons on HIV/AIDS, there was no such thing as an MRI, and there were no drug-eluding stents. Yet his residency lasted just three years, the same as today's residents. Plus, today's residents have strict guidelines limiting their hours.

In other words, he said, ''they have more to learn and less time to learn it, so you have to train better.''

Vic is often used along with X-rays, lab results, EKG readings, and other information, so residents can consider everything before making a diagnosis. A set of guidelines lays out the key steps the doctors should take while working with Vic, from washing their hands to ordering tests. Failing to do critical steps would keep the doctor in the simulation lab longer.

''They can work through the scenario multiple times until they understand it,'' Martin said.

Part of treating patients is learning to work with a team of doctors, nurses, and technicians, said simulation lab manager Dawne Wheeler. The simulation lab can help residents and nursing students get a feel for the organized chaos that can come with patient care.

Or it can simply help nursing students get better at placing IVs and catheters.

''They can come in here and practice on (Vic) before they try it on a patient,'' she said.

Tomada said it can be valuable for medical school students, too, because even though you're taught something in class, ''once you see it, it sticks more.''

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