Amy Cowperthwait, CEO of Avkin Inc., RN, MSN, CNS, CHSE-A, began her career as an emergency room nurse—a role that gave her firsthand experience with the high-pressure, emotionally charged, and deeply rewarding nature of patient care.
Simulation's New Perspective
She brought this perspective with her to the Simulation Lab at the University of Delaware, where she also earned her degree. Tasked with creating the simulation curriculum from the ground up, Cowperthwait quickly realized the magnitude of the challenge after a simple Google search revealed how much work lay ahead.
“I was the person in the early 2000s getting manikins out of the box and programming my scenarios,” she recalled of her early days in healthcare simulation.
After establishing a curriculum centered on high-fidelity manikins, she noticed something was still missing—something human. The technology alone wasn’t achieving the emotional and behavioral responses needed to prepare students for real-life patient encounters.
“I was in the middle of a code blue scenario, and the students were performing CPR on the manikin. I called the code overhead, and I watched my student smack her hands on the chest and say, ‘That’s it. You’re dead. I’m done.’ I watched in horror from the control room thinking, ‘That’s someone’s husband, someone’s dad.’ It occurred to me that they weren’t equating the manikins with human life.”
Inception of Healthcare Theatre
In search of a more human-centered learning experience, Amy reached out to Allan Carlsen, an assistant professor of theatre, and asked: “Could you send me actors?”
At a time when standardized patients were not widely used in the U.S., this was a bold and innovative move. These trained actors, known as standardized patients, were able to respond consistently and authentically to student interactions—elevating the realism and emotional connection of each simulation.
But Amy didn’t stop there.
Determined to further bridge the gap between education and real-world patient care, she pioneered the development of Avkin’s Wearable Simulator line. These devices allow standardized patients to simulate physical symptoms and procedures, creating a powerful fusion of human interaction and clinical accuracy.
Still headquartered in Delaware, Avkin’s products were conceptualized, designed, and manufactured in the First State and are now making a global impact. Institutions like George Washington University, Gundersen Health System (video below), ITQAN Clinical Simulation & Innovation Center in Doha, Qatar, and the University of Delaware are just a few among many using Avkin’s technology to transform the way students learn to care.
For more about the local and global impact of Healthcare Theatre and Avkin’s wearable simulators, read the full story in Newark Life Magazine.
Read it here →
Curious on how a healthcare theatre program and Avkin’s wearble simulators can improve your simulation center? Book a meeting below!
