Board of Trustees tour high-tech learning labs in the College of Health & Human Services
UNC Charlotte’s Board of Trustees, along with Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber, recently visited the College of Health and Human Services to view the college’s virtual anatomy and dissection labs and Learning Resource Center.
The board members got an up-close look at the high-tech simulation methods offered to students in nursing, exercise science and other programs. The group observed everything from a digitized human cadaver to a manikin simulating childbirth and discovered how high-impact, hands-on learning can better prepare students for what they will encounter in the workforce.
“I think it was helpful for the Board of Trustees to see these realistic teaching methods for themselves,” said Melinda Forthofer, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Health and Human Services. “Watching patient simulations in the nursing labs shows how students can be equipped to respond to real-life clinical scenarios. It’s totally different from reading about it in a book or studying a PowerPoint.”
In these labs, many students are training to become licensed practitioners in the health and human service fields. The School of Nursing’s Learning Resource Center provides a variety of mid-to-high-fidelity human patient simulators in settings ranging from patient exam rooms to a home environment. The virtual anatomy and dissection labs provide views of body structures and processes that augment what’s offered in physical, dry lab models and textbooks.
“Students are learning how to interact with patients. They’re learning what happens if they make a mistake and how to calmly back up and correct it,” Forthofer said. “Things happen in health care settings. You don’t always know how a patient will respond to a treatment or intervention. The more we can prepare our students to be clearheaded in those settings, the better the care they can provide.”
In addition to the labs the board members toured, the College of Health and Human Services also offers a social work simulation lab. Future simulation offerings in the college will include expanded use of virtual reality and interprofessional education simulations involving multiple disciplines.
