Blog
When Simulation Becomes Personal
For Christina Alvarado, simulation has always been part of her professional life.
As Director of Immersive and Simulation-Based Learning at the University of Toledo, she helps prepare healthcare professionals for moments when clinical skills, teamwork, and preparation matter most.
But years ago, simulation took on a meaning she never expected.
Christina was preparing to welcome her second child with her wife when, at just 28 weeks, they realized something wasn’t right.
They went to the hospital. Christina was scared. As a nurse, she was also thinking through every possible scenario that could go wrong.
That night, her wife gave birth.
Their son arrived 12 weeks early, and Christina didn’t know what would happen next.
The Moment Everything Changed
When the NICU and OB teams arrived, Christina recognized many of the people caring for her family.
They were residents, students, and attending physicians who had come through her simulation center.
And then she watched them work.
“Like magic, they worked together,” Christina recalls.
They cared for her wife and, more importantly, her son.
For someone who spends her career helping healthcare professionals prepare through simulation, seeing that preparation unfold during one of the most frightening moments of her own life gave her a perspective she had never experienced before.
In simulation, teams practice situations they hope they will never have to face in real life. Christina had spent years watching learners work through those scenarios and develop the skills to respond together.
Now she was seeing that preparation from the other side.
“Often in simulation, we use these simulators, such as Lucina, to practice these very events,” she says.
This time, there was no simulation. There was her family.
A New Perspective on Her Work
Today, Christina’s son is five years old and, as she puts it, “developing completely normal.”
Looking back, the experience changed how she thought about the work she does every day.
“I knew for a fact that everything we work for in our fields, not only benefits other patients, but at some point will benefit us as well.”
The work of simulation happens in training environments, but its purpose extends far beyond them. The skills practiced, decisions made, and teamwork developed there eventually become part of real patient care.
Christina experienced that connection in the most personal way possible.
Why the Work Matters
Christina’s story is a reminder that behind every simulation is a real possibility: that when an unexpected moment comes, someone will be better prepared for it.
Her experience reinforced why she continues to believe so deeply in simulation and the people who make it possible.
Because the impact of preparation isn’t always visible when the training happens.
Sometimes, you see it when it matters most.
And sometimes, the impact reaches closer to home than you ever expected.
Watch Christina share her story and the moment simulation became personal.