For Ken Johnson, Monday was "pretend you're a cardiologist" day.

Johnson spent the day learning how to work inside a human heart. He inserted a thin wire into an artery in a patient's leg and guided the wire to the heart to repair a blocked blood vessel. He followed the catheter's path through the patient's arteries on an X-ray screen and monitored the patient's vital signs on an adjacent computer monitor.

"I could feel the catheter pop into the lesion," he said.

But the "lesion" wasn't real, and neither was the patient.

Johnson and his colleagues from the heart care department at Providence Medford Medical Center were training on a sophisticated computer that simulates heart attacks, blocked arteries and other potentially serious conditions. Providence physicians brought the simulator to Medford to give their assistants experience with problems they could encounter when the hospital begins offering cardiology services this spring.

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The simulator includes a lifelike manikin and the instrumentation that physicians and their assistants would see in a real-world procedure. The manikin even talks about its symptoms, describing the chest pains and nausea that often accompany heart ailments.

"It's surprisingly real," said Dr. Ted Dodge, Providence cardiologist.

"It gives you tactile feedback based on what you're doing," Dodge said.

Johnson and other technologists would never assume the physician's role in the real world, but Dodge said giving them a chance to experience what he feels helps them learn to work together as a team, and anticipate what the physician will need if a complication occurs.

The simulator also gives support staff valuable experience coping with problems before they begin working with patients.

"They're learning on the fly," Dodge said, "but no patient is impaired by the training."

The "Sim Suite" simulator is housed in a motor coach that visits hospitals to provide training and promote new medical equipment manufactured by Boston Scientific, which sponsors two traveling simulators — one in the eastern states and one in the West. Dodge said the coach will visit Rogue Valley Medical Center today.

Dodge said the simulation sessions mark the beginning of two weeks of intensive training for the people who will work with him when Providence opens its expanded heart care program. Dodge said Providence could begin to offer cardiology services as soon as early April.

Providence's decision to create a heart care program has drawn fire from RVMC, which has been the region's sole full-service heart care provider. RVMC managers have said Providence's program will unnecessarily duplicate their own program, which has earned recognition from a national medical information company as one of the nation's top 100 hospitals for cardiac care.

Dodge said competition will make both programs better, and give patients a choice. He acknowledged that some people will not want to be treated by a brand-new team, but others will welcome the opportunity to start something new, and people who have "institutional loyalty" to Providence will be able to have cardiac care at the hospital of their choice.

Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492 or e-mail bkettler@mailtribune.com.