by Jennifer Kowalewski
While students enjoyed winter
break, faculty and staff at OU-COM revamped the gross anatomy lab in
Grosvenor Hall 139A, bringing the facility into the digital age with
high-quality plasma televisions and pixel-fine video cameras. The
improvement amounted to a quantum leap of the lab’s technological
infrastructure.
“It’s quite an upgrade from what we
had,” says Lawrence Witmer, Ph.D., professor of anatomy. “In
some ways, anatomy is the most ancient of the sciences. We wanted to
bring our students’ laboratory learning experience of anatomy into
the 21st century.”
The college accomplished that with
the upgrades in the gross anatomy lab and a smaller anatomy lab in
the basement of Grosvenor Hall, Dean Jack Brose, D.O., says,
adding he was excited by the new technology. Allen Reed,
desktop support manager, explains that prior to 1985, the school had
older television monitors and a VHS system in the gross anatomy lab,
but those were taken out a year later, being recognizably obsolete
even at the time.
“After that, we only had
chalkboards in that room,” he says.
The planning phase for the lab’s
renovation began in spring 2005, when Witmer talked to Brose about
upgrading the technology of the anatomy labs. Reed says designing
began over the summer, with installation completed during the winter
break. Now, the facility boasts 10 50-inch plasma screens positioned
so students at any station can easily see at least one. Staff
equipped the lab with five cameras positioned strategically so they
can zoom in — at high magnification — on the examination table at
any station.
Witmer says all this will enhance
learning in the lab. Prior the installation of them, when one
station found something of interest, it was difficult and time
consuming to share it with the rest of class. These cameras and
televisions make it very easy to clearly see anatomy of interest,
such as a hip replacement or organ defects.
The room also boasts two digital
light processing (DLP) video projectors, a sound system and computer
system able to burn DVDs of class sessions.
“Now, we can keep disruptions of
the class to a minimum,” he says. “I can show the students something
of interest by asking them to look up at the video screen,” rather
then having them attempt to crowd around a table to view something.
An instructor camera allows faculty to better present prepared
lectures and materials, such as X-rays or MRIs, over the plasma
televisions.
“Now the lab is a dream setup for
teaching,” he says. “I think it’s going to make the gross anatomy
lab much more efficient. We’re tremendously excited by taking this
lab into the digital age.”
These upgrades also make it
possible for instructors to showcase macro- or micro-procedures.
Instead of traveling from table to table, the technology allows for
procedures to be seen from one station, while the entire class
watches via the plasma screens. These can be recorded to be reviewed
later or for future classes to view.
“It’s a tremendous innovation,”
Brose says. “As an instructor, I frequently would do procedures,
such as spinal taps or obtaining bone marrow. I would have to go
table to table. I think it’s very exciting to do a demonstration
only once. From my standpoint, it is a positive benefit to the
college.”
The upgrades to the anatomy lab
came on the heels of updating its OMM Lab. The two are linked by
video technology so students in the OMM lab learning about certain
areas of the body can see the actual body parts in the gross anatomy
lab.
Reed says the technology upgrade,
including two plasma televisions and a computer system installed in
a ground floor lab, cost $115,000, which came from state-allocated
funds. Brose says that every two years, the college receives money
from the state for educational upgrades.
“We thought this was an excellent
use for the money,” Brose says. “This updates the technological
quality and capability of medical education here at OU-COM.”
Reed says that the renovation may
likely be featured in “Sound & Communications” magazine (www.soundandcommunications.com).
