Education in the Digital Age
Thursday afternoon:
George Washington University School of Medicine has taken a state-of-the-art approach to clinical education using cutting edge technology that is among the most innovative in the nation. You will have the opportunity to visit each area, hear from faculty who use the technology to teach, and meet industry representatives (B-Line Medical and Bacus Laboratories) who developed and market the systems.
Clinical Learning and Simulation Skills Center: Visit this innovative facility where students gain the comprehensive clinical exposure, feedback and evaluation they need to become both technically adept and humane caregivers for their patients.
- Surgical Simulation and Demonstration Area: Using virtual reality and two full-scale “mock” operating rooms, this area provides highly realistic scenarios for surgical training. Each room can be configured to match the conditions of an operating room, emergency department, or intensive care unit. In addition, a highly sophisticated computer-controlled mannequin is used for practice surgeries. This human patient simulator can be programmed with patient characteristics (ie. Age, anatomy, and specific physiological conditions), mimics pulse and other vital signs, and can be programmed to respond to various drugs and interventions.
- Standardized Patient Examining Areas: This suite of patient examining areas is designed for teaching and evaluating students in the basic clinical skills of patient history taking and physical examination along with communication and interpersonal skills. Students have live encounters with actors trained as standardized patients interact with students as actual patients would while faculty watch the students perform in real time on video monitors.
- Student Computer Resource Center – Equipped with 15 workstations, this center provides students with space and technology they need to write charts, read and research material for their patients.
- Speak to the programmers from B-Line Medical - Developers of the clinical skills digital solution for managing and operating the clinical skills center will be on hand to discuss the software. Originally developed for GWUMC, the B-Line Clinical Skills System has recently been chosen by 10 other top medical school and hospital programs.
Digital Classroom in Action: The migration of traditional anatomy and pathology wet labs to a digital format requires significant planning and collaboration amongst key faculty, administrative, and technology personnel. Visit this facility, examine new policies and procedures put in place to facilitate the digital learning formats, and hear how the faculty and students feel about teaching and learning in this new environment.
- Virtual Microscopy Lab: Replaces glass slides and microscopes for quantitative pathology, tissue micro array imaging, and medical education at GWU. Bacus Laboratories pioneered virtual microscopy in the mid 1990's. The company, a leader and innovator in the field of virtual microscopy, also has products for quantitative pathology and tissue microarray imaging. Bacus Laboratories, Inc. is also the leading provider of virtual microscopy as a replacement for glass slides and microscopes in medical education and has developed a consortium approach to user participation. As a condition of use, faculty from the medical, dental and veterinary schools share their images. Meet representatives from Bacus Laboratories and faculty who use the systems every day.
