Grand Opening for UW Health Sciences Center Set for Oct. 21 |
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Oct. 18, 2005 -- The grand opening for the University of Wyoming's $20 million Health Sciences Center will be held Friday, Oct. 21.
Key donors, state legislators, health officials, and other dignitaries will attend the invitation-only event that will include presentations by UW President Tom Buchanan, Wyoming Department of Health Director Brent Sherard, and Wyoming U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas. Students in several health science disciplines will conduct tours of the facility.
The new building, which opened its doors to students this fall, unites most College of Health Sciences fields under one roof, says Robert O. Kelley, dean of the college. He says it is the only facility of its kind west of the Mississippi River.
"The center is designed to serve the nation's growing need for well-educated, well-trained providers of health care and social services," he says. "It reflects the necessity of providing interdisciplinary education and training for each of the college's professional disciplines."
The College of Heath Sciences includes the School of Pharmacy; Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing; the divisions of kinesiology and health, communication disorders, disabilities studies, and social work; and medical education and public health programs. It also includes family practice residency programs in Cheyenne and Casper, the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, and the Center for Rural Health Research and Education.
Before the center opened, college divisions were scattered across campus and throughout Laramie. Kelley says this limited the college's growth and ability to work collaboratively. Now, all divisions of health sciences-with the exception of the division of kinesiology and health, dental hygiene program, and the family practice centers-will be housed together.
The new building's central location, Kelley says, gives students an opportunity to learn in an environment that reflects the way health-care services are delivered in the field.
"In the new building, pharmacy students will be able to work with nursing students, nursing students will have the opportunity to interact with social work students, and social work students will learn firsthand the benefits of client referral to audiologists and people specifically trained to work with individuals with disabilities," he says.
Kelley adds that the new center also will encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary research.
The center's modern classrooms are outfitted with state-of-the-art teaching technology, including cameras that can broadcast lessons to students around the state, projectors that beam student presentations from computer to classroom screen, and even a robotic glove instructors can wear to record what they write on the board and send it to student computers.
It also offers students a variety of realistic, simulated experiences to prepare them for work in hospitals or clinics. These include a mock hospital room full of patient beds with real equipment for training, and "SimMan," a computerized patient that allows students to put their knowledge into practice. Social work students can practice their interviewing skills in specially designed rooms that allow professors to observe from behind one-way mirrors and listen over a sound system.
The center's $20 million cost is funded by the state legislature, the university, and major gifts from Roy and Fay Whitney, the Griffin Foundation, Mary Gullikson, and Albert and Carolyn Carollo.
Posted on Tuesday, October 18, 2005
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