HARVEY — THE ROBOT

University of Miami pioneers share medical know-how.
BY JOHN W. COX for The Miami Herald

Harvey is a true Renaissance man.

He has trained medical students and staff at more than 150 medical centers worldwide. He’s almost 40 but looks younger than he did at birth. He went on a diet two years ago and lost almost 500 pounds.

Harvey, created by the University of Miami’s Dr. Michael S. Gordon, is one of the world’s original and most cutting-edge patient simulators, replicating conditions ranging from cardiac disease to heart murmurs.

UM sells copies of the robot-like Harvey to medical training programs worldwide for $50,000.

He’s the star among dozens of programs and technologies employed by the Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, which has new facilities on the first two floors of UM’s Clinical Research Building on the university’s Miami medical campus.

”I had these ideas that people used to scoff at,” Gordon said of the bushy haired Harvey, who is made of plastic, with glass eyes and an intricate internal wiring. “They used to call me a used car salesman. Now they call me a visionary.”

Gordon and his staff recently raised $10 million to open the new 34,000-square-foot facility.

My comment: Hey! What a coincidence; I was a used car salesman, a long time ago.

To read the full article: UM pioneers share medical know-how – 06/07/2007 – MiamiHerald.com