The agenda is simple: medical students should not learn life-threatening clinical interventions on living patients. Also, when students practice at the simulation centres, they become confident.
When students practice at the simulation centres, these centres allow them to respond exactly as a real patient would. This will help them to learn how to face a real ward emergency, the muscle memory, the diagnostic reasoning, and the team communication have already been built. Pragya is structured to deliver exactly that progression.
The eleven simulation units
Each unit at Pragya is dedicated to a specific clinical environment and a specific set of learning outcomes. The walkthrough during Dr Jitendra Singh‘s visit covered the full scope of the facility.
Emergency Critical Care Simulation Unit
The Emergency Critical Care unit is equipped with cutting-edge patient simulators and digital monitoring systems supporting clinical decision-making, emergency algorithm practice, and multidisciplinary communication. The ATLAS and i-Simulate platforms deliver highly dynamic clinical emergencies that respond to real interventions by learners. Training covers ACLS protocol practice, clinical management of critically ill patients, ECG recognition and rhythm management, and radiological and imaging-based clinical decision-making.
Trauma Simulation Unit
This unit is built for critical emergencies related to trauma. Students get trained and develop rapid assessment skills, perform trauma procedures with correct sequencing, and manage demanding scenarios with the actual clinical equipment. The training matches the Advanced Trauma Life Support protocols.
- TrueMan Trauma simulator: full-fidelity adult trauma manikin.
- TruBaby: neonatal and infant trauma fidelity.
- Paediatric intraosseous training devices: for rapid vascular access in paediatric resuscitation.
- Advanced Airway Management stations: LMA, ET intubation, surgical airway, needle and surgical cricothyroidotomy.
- Procedural training: needle decompression, chest tube insertion, massive haemorrhage control, intraosseous access.
- Clinical coverage: polytrauma, head injury, thoracic and abdominal trauma.
Advanced Obstetric and Neonatal Simulation Unit
The Advanced Obstetric and Neonatal unit supports maternal and neonatal training across normal and complex deliveries. Equipment includes full-body birthing simulators, neonatal manikins with cyanosis and preterm fidelity, fetal monitoring systems, and obstetric and gynaecological task trainers.
- Normal and complex deliveries: labour and delivery simulation, control of postpartum haemorrhage.
- Obstetric emergencies: shoulder dystocia, breech delivery, eclampsia, seizure management.
- Neonatal training: airway management, resuscitation, stabilisation, birth asphyxia recognition, basic and advanced neonatal resuscitation.
- Procedural training: IUCD and PPIUCD insertion.
Advanced Airway and Cardiac Unit
The Advanced Airway and Cardiac Unit focuses on high-acuity emergencies where airway and cardiac interventions are time-critical. Training uses i-Simulate technology life-cast manikins for scenario-based ACLS protocol practice, cardiac arrest management, cardiac rhythm recognition, and timely procedural decision-making under stress.
Cardiac Diagnostic Unit
The Cardiac Diagnostic Unit supports cardiac assessment training. Anatomical heart models sit alongside diagnostic systems including an ECG Machine, 2-D Echocardiography System, and SimScope for auscultation training across heart, lung, and bowel sounds. The training framework follows an Identify, Differentiate, Diagnose progression, structured to develop the recognition pattern that experienced clinicians work from.
Minimal Access Surgery Simulation Unit
The Minimal Access Surgery Simulation Unit (MASSU) supports surgical skill development, pre-operative patient management, and surgical team coordination. The unit integrates high-fidelity simulators and endo-training systems. Patient-care tasks taught include male and female catheterisation, intramuscular injection technique, Ryle’s Tube insertion, diabetic foot assessment, patient shifting and transport, and wound care.
Operation Theatre Simulation Unit
The Operation Theatre Simulation Unit provides immersive exposure to a real surgical environment. The full OT setup includes surgical light, OT table, instrument station, and anaesthesia workstation with airway and monitoring equipment. Sterile scrubs, gowning, and gloving are practised as procedures, not as concepts. Training includes anaesthesia assistance, basic and advanced airway management, aseptic technique, surgical site preparation and draping, and instrument tray preparation and handling.
Triage and Emergency Unit
The Triage and Emergency Simulation Unit replicates the fast-paced environment of a real hospital emergency department. Training is structured around real-time triage workflow and emergency decision-making, with case-based learning stations for trauma, cardiac, paediatric, and medical emergencies. Mass-casualty and disaster-management drills run through this unit. Advanced patient transportation and immobilisation systems support the scenarios.
ICU Intensive Care Simulation Unit
The ICU unit mirrors a modern modular ICU. It delivers hands-on experience in managing critically ill patients with rapid response, interdisciplinary teamwork, and emergency procedure handling. Equipment includes a mechanical ventilator with advanced respiratory modes, a Multipara patient monitoring system, invasive pressure and central line monitoring, CVP and HD catheter insertion practice, and oxygen concentrator and airway support devices.
Radiography Unit
The Radiography Unit supports imaging-based training for radiology residents and MBBS students. Imaging interpretation, radiological decision-making, and integration of imaging into clinical workflows are practised in a controlled environment.
Optometry Unit
The Optometry Unit supports the optometry and ophthalmology training pathway, with refraction practice, slit lamp examination training, and structured assessment of visual acuity and ocular health.
Beyond the eleven units: Debriefing, Task Training, and the Ambulance Simulation Unit
Pragya also includes a dedicated Debriefing Unit, where instructors and learners review scenarios, examine decision points, and convert experience into structured learning.
A Training Outcomes and Skill Advancement area tracks the progression of individual learners through the simulation curriculum. Two dedicated Task Training Areas provide focused practice on specific procedures outside the full-scenario units.
An Ambulance Simulation Unit on the ground floor of the Medical College Building completes the prehospital end of the simulation continuum.
The cadaveric extension inaugurated on 8 May 2026
On 8 May 2026, Pragya was extended with a new cadaveric centre, formally inaugurated alongside Lakshya 2047 by Dr Jitendra Singh. Cadaveric training is the layer of anatomical and surgical learning that no simulator can replicate. High-fidelity manikins reproduce physiological response. Cadaveric specimens reproduce tissue variability, anatomical reality, and the precise haptic feedback of cutting, dissecting, and suturing on real human anatomy.
For MBBS students moving into surgical and specialist training, for MS General Surgery residents, for MCh Neurosurgery candidates, and for postgraduate medical training across PIMSR, the cadaveric extension is the missing piece of the pre-clinical-to-clinical pipeline. The new centre operates in continuity with the simulation units, creating a progression from manikin to cadaver to supervised patient care.
Bohet jald shruyat hogi yaha bhi.
Dr Jitendra Singh, responding to Dr Geetika Madan Patel on the import dependency of simulation hardware
Walking the chief guest through the facility, Dr Geetika Madan Patel, Vice President of Parul University and Medical Director of Parul Sevashram Hospital, noted that the simulation hardware in Pragya is imported because comparable equipment is not currently manufactured in India. Dr Singh’s response, “bohet jald shruyat hogi yaha bhi” (soon this will begin here too), signalled the policy direction his ministry has been building toward through the Department of Science and Technology and the broader domestic manufacturing programme.
How Pragya fits into the wider clinical training infrastructure at Parul University
Pragya is the simulation layer. The clinical layer sits across Parul University’s seven NABH-accredited hospitals, including the multi-specialty Parul Sevashram Hospital and the Ayurved and Homoeopathic teaching hospitals. The recognitions are externally verifiable: National Medical Commission for medical programmes, NABH for hospital accreditation, Indian Nursing Council for nursing programmes.
- Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research: MBBS, MD, and MS programmes feeding Pragya simulation curriculum.
- Parul Sevashram Hospital: NABH-accredited multi-specialty teaching hospital where simulation graduates rotate into supervised clinical practice.
- Pragya Debriefing Unit: structured scenario review converting simulation experience into clinical competence.
- Cadaveric Centre extension (May 2026): anatomical and surgical training layer between manikin and supervised patient care.
Read More: Medical Placements Over The Years At Parul University.
FAQs
What is Pragya at Parul University?
Pragya is the Advanced Skills and Simulation Centre on the third floor of the Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Parul University, Vadodara. It covers 16,000 square feet and houses eleven dedicated simulation units (Emergency Critical Care, Trauma, Advanced Obstetric and Neonatal, Advanced Airway and Cardiac, Cardiac Diagnostic, Minimal Access Surgery, Operation Theatre, Triage and Emergency, ICU, Radiography, and Optometry), plus a Debriefing Unit, two Task Training Areas, a Training Outcomes area, and an Ambulance Simulation Unit. A new cadaveric centre was added on 8 May 2026, alongside the inauguration of Lakshya 2047, Gujarat's first NSDC Centre for Future Skills.
Does Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research have a cadaveric training centre?
Yes. A new cadaveric centre was inaugurated as an extension to Pragya, the Advanced Skills and Simulation Centre at the Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, on 8 May 2026. The cadaveric centre supports anatomical and surgical training for MBBS, MS, MD, and MCh students, sitting between manikin-based simulation and supervised patient care in the learning progression.
What kinds of medical emergencies do Parul University students practise at Pragya?
Students at Pragya practise across Emergency Critical Care (ACLS protocols, critically ill patient management), Trauma (ATLS-aligned polytrauma, head injury, thoracic and abdominal trauma), Obstetric and Neonatal (complex deliveries, postpartum haemorrhage, eclampsia, neonatal resuscitation), Advanced Airway and Cardiac (airway management, cardiac arrest), ICU (mechanical ventilation, invasive monitoring, CVP line insertion), and Triage (mass-casualty and disaster management drills). Surgical practice happens at the Minimal Access Surgery and Operation Theatre units.
What is ATLAS and i-Simulate at Pragya?
ATLAS and i-Simulate are the high-fidelity simulation platforms in operation across Pragya's clinical units. They allow instructors to deliver dynamic clinical emergencies that respond in real time to learner interventions, meaning the simulated patient responds to what the student actually does rather than to a scripted outcome. The platforms are integrated with patient monitoring systems and standard ACLS, ATLS, and ICU clinical protocols.
Which Parul University programmes use the Pragya simulation centre?
Pragya serves the MBBS programme, MD and MS postgraduate medical programmes, MCh super-specialty programmes including Neurosurgery, B.Sc Nursing, and Bachelor of Physiotherapy programmes at Parul University. The cadaveric extension also supports anatomy training across all medical and allied health programmes at the Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research.
