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Behind the undistinguished façade of the Surgery and Obstetrics Laboratory, workers are busily building a distinctive feature of our new curriculum: a Clinical Skills Learning Center (CSLC).
By August, when the Class of 2013 arrives, more than 1,200 square feet of remodeled space will house stations for students to practice setting up anesthesia machines, intubating manikins, performing clinical pathology tests, and positioning animals for radiographs, among other activities.
The CSLC will provide an important vehicle for the integration of basic science and clinical training that lies at the heart of the new Illinois Integrated Veterinary Professional Curriculum, debuting this fall.
Under the new curriculum, students will participate in clinical rotations in all four years of the program, starting on the first day of the first year. The CSLC will also be used by students in all four years. In the first year, for example, while taking the cardiovascular physiology course, students may learn to use an ECG and listen to simulated heart sounds in the CSLC. In years 2 and 3 students will take their comprehensive milestone examinations in the CSLC to assess clinical competency.
By design the CSLC allows students to build competence and confidence through self-directed learning and to practice on non-living models in a safe, low-stress environment. Two veterinary technicians will assist student learning. Instructional DVDs, Web sites, and teaching modules with case scenarios will be available during hours when the center is not staffed.
I look forward to offering tours of the new space during the annual Fall Conference for Veterinarians, slated for September 10 and 11 this year. Meanwhile, if you want to know how you can play a role in making this new student learning center a reality, please contact me at
[email protected].