“If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go further, go together.”
Michael Gordon pioneered the application of technology to medical education. In 1968 he invented “Harvey”, The Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator”, at a time when computers and Internet services were only a pipe dream for the masses. Met with skepticism and criticism from his peers who felt patients were better, Michael persisted, and today Harvey teaches tens of thousands of learners per year worldwide.
But he didn’t stop there. Thirty years after his invention of Harvey, he was asked by the Dean of the Medical School to train students on Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) since it was going to be a requirement for graduation. Within weeks the Center was contacted by the various fire rescue departments to train their Paramedics. Up until then Paramedics and First Responders were used to the old regimen of “Scoop and Run”, pick up the patient and get them to the hospital as quickly as possible. But Michael believed they could and should do more to give the first responders the tools and knowledge to treat the patient on the way to the hospital, resulting in a lesser mortality rate. Today, the life-saving programs including the Advanced Cardiac Life Support, (ACLS) and the Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) developed at the Gordon Center on heart attack, stroke and disaster response train thousands of first responders, army surgical teams, the white house medical staff and hospital personnel worldwide.
Always ahead of the curve, Michael recognized the need for a curriculum to go with Harvey. He formed the “Harvey Group”, an international consortium of physicians, educators, engineers and computer program designers. They met quarterly to design innovative simulation tools, develop curricula content and devise evaluation and measurement methods to perform outcomes for what became the UMedic Multimedia Computer Curriculum. The group has grown through the years and is now called the M.I.A.M.I. Group. Along with the faculty and staff at the Gordon Center, they are fully committed to “Saving Lives Through Simulation Technology”.
Michael didn’t believe in failure. “Never happens” he often said, “you bounce off one wall, you go another direction, you win because you care enough to stay with the program.”
Few people have affected the education of students, healthcare practitioners and first responders as profoundly as Dr. Michael S. Gordon.
Michael’s years of achievements have been recognized by numerous awards including:
More of Michael’s favorite quotes.
“IT’S NOT HOW MANY IDEAS YOU HAVE, IT’S HOW MANY YOU MAKE HAPPEN.”
“I TRIED BEING REASONABLE, I JUST DIDN’T LIKE IT!”
“TELL ME WITH WHOM YOU WALK AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE”
“I TOUCH THE FUTURE. I TEACH”
“THERE THEY GO…I MUST CATCH THEM FOR I AM THEIR LEADER.”
“THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT”
“THE HEIGHTS BY GREAT MEN REACHED AND KEPT WERE NOT ATTAINED BY SUDDEN FLIGHT, BUT THEY, WHILE THEIR COMPANIONS SLEPT, WERE TOILING UPWARD IN THE NIGHT”
A LEGACY OF INNOVATION IN MEDICINE
harvey®
harvey®
Gordon, who is the founder and director emeritus of the Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education is best known for creating Harvey.
Harvey is the world’s first cardiopulmonary patient simulator, and UMedic, an innovative computer- and web-based training program for physicians, emergency responders and military personnel, as well as students enrolled in medical, nursing and physician assistant programs.
PASSION MEETS PURPOSE.
higher education
“As a leader in the field of medicine, Michael inspired others to dream more, to do more, to learn more, and to become more.” – S. Barry Issenberg, M.D
first responders
“By better training those who serve and protect our citizens and our country, we have been able to contribute to a major reduction in mortality” – Michael
the arts
“My mother Dorée was a leading lady on Broadway at age 17 who gave up her career to marry my father Lee, by supporting theater and music programs, we honor her memory.” – Michael
THE GORDON CENTER
The Gordon Center is a designated Center of Excellence of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. It was established for the application of advanced technology to medical education for medical students, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, paramedic/firefighters and instructors.
And after 50 years of teaching, research and caring for patients at the medical school, Michael Gordon was still passionate about advancing medical education.
“I often think about new ways to apply technology to the learning process,” he said. “There are also many parts of the world that lag the U.S. in the adoption of medical simulation systems, which provide a very cost-effective approach for training new health care professionals.”
Now, more than 2,000 medical centers and agencies worldwide use the educational systems and training curricula developed at the Center.
Co-designation of Highland Road and NW 14 Street as “Dr. Michael S. Gordon Plaza”
On March 20, 2018, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution sponsored by Vice Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson to honor Dr. Michael S. Gordon who over his long and distinguished career at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, revolutionized medical education around the world. Some of Dr. Gordon’s greatest achievements include the creation of the world’s first cardiopulmonary patient simulator and the development of an innovative web-based computer program to teach physicians, and emergency and military personnel. Today, over 600 Florida agencies and over 800 agencies across the country receive instruction from the Gordon Center’s Emergency Medical Skills Training Program.
MORE ABOUT MICHAEL S. GORDON
personal life and education
personal life and education
Dr. Gordon and his brother Alan grew up in Chicago, the son of Dorée, a leading lady of Broadway who gave up her career to marry their father Lee. Michael attended the University of Illinois as an undergraduate and a medical student, at the same time also earning a master’s degree in biochemistry. He completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic, became a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, and did his cardiology fellowship at Georgetown University. Dr. Gordon joined the faculty at the University of Miami in 1966, where he was not only a teacher and researcher but an innovator and successful leader.