Jeffrey Taekman, M.D.

Revolutionizing healthcare quality, safety, productivity, and learning through technology

My name is Jeff Taekman. I’m the Assistant Dean for Educational Technology, the Director of the Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center, a Neuroanesthesiologist in the Duke University School of Medicine and faculty in the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

I was one of three inaugural elected officers and served on the Board of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare during its formation. I served on the inaugural Editorial Board of the Journal of Simulation in Healthcare and founded the Special Interest Group on Serious Games, and was the inaugural moderator or the Society's Listserv. My work has appeared in the Huffington Post, Fast Company and Wired, as well as on CNN, CBS, and ABC News,

I lecture on subjects related to technology, simulation, distance learning, patient safety and productivity. I’ve directed the interdisciplinary, interprofessional Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center since its inception. The HSPSC configuration, with clinicians working side-by-side with human factors engineers, has been cited as a 21st century model for improving patient safety.

My interests include healthcare simulation (especially virtual environments/games-based learning) for education and process improvement, mobile computing, informatics, and research on research, and the microbiome.