Blog
The Decision That Launched METI
In 1996, Mark McClure and a small group of colleagues faced a choice: walk away from healthcare simulation or take a chance on building something new.
At the time, Mark was part of a team developing patient simulation technology at Loral Corporation. But after Lockheed Martin acquired Loral, healthcare simulation was no longer part of the company’s strategic direction. The technology could have disappeared.
Instead, Lou Oberndorf saw an opportunity to build something new—and asked Mark and a small group of colleagues to take the leap with him.
Mark had been involved with the simulator since its early commercialization efforts with the University of Florida. He understood the technology and saw its potential, but joining a new company posed a different challenge. There was no established roadmap, no guarantee of what would come next, and no large organization behind them.
Still, Mark, along with Ray Shuford, Jim Azukas, and Diane Noyes, joined Lou to co-found Medical Education Technologies, Inc., better known as METI.
And it took some convincing.
Mark recalls that Lou had to “wine and dine the wives” to win their support before Mark and Jim felt ready to leave Lockheed Martin and take a chance on a new company.
That decision marked the beginning of a new chapter; not just for Mark and his colleagues, but for healthcare simulation. METI grew from a small team into a company that helped expand simulation across nursing, emergency medicine, military medicine, and other areas of healthcare education.
But when Mark looks back, he remembers more than product milestones. It’s the experience and people who matter most.
He remembers the long nights spent preparing major product launches, including staying at work for days at a time to troubleshoot hardware and software before a show. He remembers watching teammates try to stay awake as everyone worked together to get a new simulator ready for opening day.
“We had a lot of growing pains, but looking back now, we had a lot of fun and great experiences getting to the finish line on many products,” Mark says.
Thirty years later, the company has continued to evolve—from METI to CAE Healthcare to today’s Elevate Healthcare. Throughout those changes, Mark has remained part of the journey.
The decision he made in 1996 didn’t just launch a company. It launched a career spanning more than three decades, and Mark still helps shape the future of healthcare simulation at Elevate Healthcare today.