OU Debuts New State-of-the-Art Clinical Skills Center
One of the largest medical simulation facilities in the nation

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine unveiled the new Dr. Sheila M. Crow and Dr. Richard D. Husband Clinical Skills Education & Testing Center (CSETC) in February.

With 22,000 square feet of state-of-the-art space and equipment, CSETC is one of the largest medical educational facilities of its kind in the nation, providing learners an opportunity to hone their skills in a wide range of simulated medical settings.

“This center is the realization of a vision born almost a decade ago – a vision to create a facility in which we are able to provide students with an opportunity to experience in a very realistic way what they will face when dealing with actual patients in clinics, emergency rooms, the operating room, the community and more,” said M. Dewayne Andrews, M.D., executive dean of the OU College of Medicine.

Located on the sixth floor of Garrison Tower on the OU Health Science Center campus, the CSETC melds advanced technology with the human experience to teach clinical, communication and team skills in scenarios that realistically reflect those faced in caring for real patients. These scenarios utilize high fidelity simulators (computerized mannequins designed to respond as human patients would in a variety of situations), and highly-trained standardized patients (individuals who act as patients in simulated clinic and other health care settings). The goal is to provide opportunities to practice important skills in a controlled environment, elevating the education of future health care providers and ultimately the care we receive as patients.

“Our high-fidelity simulators are very much like the real thing with eye reflexes, a pulse, blood pressure and more,” said Rhonda Sparks, M.D., and director of the CSETC. “We can administer medications and then manipulate the technology to create situations the learner has to deal with in real time. So what it requires of you is to begin to learn to think, adapt and react. They allow us to artificially create hundreds of different clinical situations in a simulated patient.”

Funding for the new CSETC was provided through a generous anonymous donation, a grant from the University Hospitals Authority & Trust, and the support of the OU College of Medicine.

“Medical education is one of our primary missions. The CSETC is a state of the art facility which will enhance the educational experience and skills of future physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers, ensuring superior healthcare for the citizens of our great state,” said Mike Samis, chairman, University Hospitals Authority and Trust.

Rick Brown Associates served as architect for the project and Caston Construction Company was contractor.

“I truly believe this was more than just another project for them,” Sparks said. “They really saw our vision and shared our passion for turning that vision into a reality.”

The center features patient exam rooms, four large simulation suites, and a surgical skills training facility, as well as training and conference space. It is also equipped so that every interaction can be videotaped, critiqued by educators and reviewed with the students. This allows them to watch, review and then try again as they master key competencies.

Learners at the CSETC are provided opportunities to hone their skills in a fully equipped operating room, emergency department, intensive care unit, a labor and delivery, post-partum, recovery suite and other clinical settings stocked with real equipment and artificial patients.

“I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish through the combined efforts of our faculty, our dedicated staff, our students and residents, who have provided important insights and input. I believe this center is truly a showpiece for the OU College of Medicine, the University of Oklahoma and for our state,” Andrews said.

For more information on the Clinical Skills Education and Testing Center at the OU College of Medicine, visit www.oucsetc.com.

New Ambulatory Surgery Center

Construction will soon begin on another important project on the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus - a new 20,000 square-foot Ambulatory Surgery Center.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center will be adjacent to the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center at 10th and Lincoln. It is being built to expand available operating room capacity in response to growing demand for surgery services on campus. The project will provide a facility and system specifically designed for less-complex, outpatient procedures with a focus on convenience and efficiency.

“This will optimize the experience for those needing outpatient procedures,” said Thomas Lehman, M.D., OU Physicians orthopedic surgeon. “Additionally, it is common for there to be cost savings to patients based on their insurance coverage when these types of procedures are performed in an outpatient facility.”

The Surgery Center is being constructed by HCA, which operates the OU Medical Center through a joint venture with The University Hospitals Authority and Trust.

“It provides a win for all doctors requiring operating room time, because it will give them a modern and efficient place for outpatient procedures while freeing time in current operating rooms for procedures requiring hospitalization,” explained Cole Eslyn, president and CEO of OU Medical Center.

The one-story structure will be elevated to allow current parking to remain beneath it. In addition to a welcoming lobby and administrative area, the center will include:

  • five operating rooms
  • two procedure rooms

Initially, the following specialties are expected to heavily utilize the Center for patients’ outpatient surgeries and procedures:

  • Anesthesiology/Pain Medicine
  • General Surgery
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology
  • Otolaryngology
  • Orthopedics
  • Urology

“We expect to see great benefit, especially for the children we see who have procedures that don’t take much time. This way, we will be able to care for more of them and do it more efficiently,” said Jesus Medina, M.D. of OU Physicians Otolaryngology.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center will allow for increased competitiveness with area surgery centers when it comes to elective procedures such as cosmetic facial surgery. It will also further strengthen the campus’ ability to retain current faculty and physicians, as well as attract new ones to the campus.

Construction is expected to take about a year.

An Artful Endeavor
Atrium Art Selection Progresses

The opportunity to have their art featured prominently in the Atrium entrance planned for the new OU Children’s Physicians Building and Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center drew submissions from top artists across the nation and around the world.

Artwork created in a variety of mediums - bronze, steel, stone, glass and even crayons – were reviewed by the art selection committee, which included members representing the campus and the community. They faced the difficult task of narrowing the field of 53 submissions to a just a handful of finalists.

“The number and quality of the submissions was impressive,” said Jim Everest, vice chair of the University Hospitals Authority and Trust who participated in the art advisory committee. “Renowned artists from throughout the nation and the world submitted their best for consideration. It was exciting to participate in the process as the committee reviewed inspired concepts submitted by so many artists. The art selected will play an integral role in the Atrium. It will further define the space and add to its beauty as well.”
Shan Shan Sheng
Mackenzie Thorpe

Three finalists were invited to make site visits and present their ideas to the art advisory committee. In the end, the committee recommended that Mackenzie Thorpe of Great Britain and Shan Shan Sheng of San Francisco, both internationally renowned artists, be selected to create one-of-a-kind works of art for the Atrium.

Mackenzie Thorpe’s experience includes creating sculpture in a variety of sizes and materials including fiber glass, bronze, clay and mixed metal. He has a long history of working in children’s healthcare environments in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. While traveling to exhibit his art, Thorpe works with children from all walks of life. He helps them express and better understand their adversities through interactive workshops where the kids complete their own art pieces.

Shan Shan Sheng is a Shanghai-born artist who came to the United States in 1982 to pursue her academic and artistic interests. The last 12 of her 20 years as a professional artist have been spent in the public art field. From her studios in San Francisco and Venice, Italy, Sheng has completed large scale projects all over the United States and China, and has artwork installed in three of the world’s tallest buildings.

With approval of the art advisory committee’s recommendations, Thorpe and Sheng will finalize their designs, and are prepared to have them completed and installed for the opening of the Atrium.

Completion Nears

Work on the new OU Children’s Physicians building has moved into its final phases.
Interior finishes are now underway inside the building at the corner of Northeast 13th and Phillips on the OU Health Science Center campus in Oklahoma City.

Each floor boasts a unique color and interior design scheme to help delineate the unique areas of specialty within the 336,000 square foot, 14-story building. It will be the state’s first freestanding, pediatric multi-specialty building and provide all new, state-of-the-art medical office space for more than 100 pediatric specialists with OU Children’s Physicians.

Completion is now just weeks away and plans for the transition to the new building are being finalized with an expected summer 2009 move-in for physicians fast approaching.

The building is part of an overall $111 million project that also includes:

  • A six-story, glass Atrium, which will serve as an entrance to the medical office building and a new front door for Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center
  • A three-level parking structure, providing 900 new spaces
  • A cutting-edge education and conference center to support the needs of the entire OUHSC campus
© Copyright University Hospitals Authority and Trust

website created by Evergreen Productions, Inc.