Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposed $102 million learning center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center will offer the kind of technology that will allow a student to step inside a virtual heart or practice patient care on mannequins that replicate breathing, bleeding and giving birth.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents is scheduled Friday to vote on the center, which would be called the Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning.
"It's not just a building, it's a transformation in the way we think about education," said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, the medical center's chancellor.
The building would have features like virtual immersion caves, digital learning walls, holographs, patient simulators, virtual surgery units and space for larger-scale team simulations, the Omaha World-Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1C4C0fD ).
School officials have requested $25 million from the Nebraska Legislature for construction and $4.5 million for operations during the two-year budget period that begins on July 1. An appropriations committee has tentatively approved $2.25 million for operations. It's expected to decide within two weeks about the additional costs.
About $80 million is expected to be covered through private donations.
The center, which would be similar to a facility at the University of Toledo, would be linked to satellite simulation centers across Nebraska.
"The center will provide opportunities statewide and world-wide for medical professionals of all types to master their skills in complex, high-risk medical scenarios in what is a no-risk environment," said Sen. John Stinner of Gering, who introduce legislation to fund the center.
___
Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
