The ‘topping-off’ ceremony for the new $165 million University of Arizona Health Sciences Innovation Building signals the advancement of team-based health professions education in the United States.
The University of Arizona Health Sciences Innovation Building, a nine-story, 220,000-square-foot, world-class building designed for clinical-simulation practice, team-based health professions education and community interaction, is “topping-off”on Friday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m., at the University of Arizona Health Sciences campus.
The $165 million facility, which is expected to be the vanguard for interprofessional health professions education in the United States, is scheduled to open in summer 2018.
Leigh A. Neumayer, MD, MS, UA interim senior vice president for health sciences, will serve as emcee for the event. UA president Robert C. Robbins will be in attendance. Members of the community are invited to sign the final steel beam from 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
The event concludes with the final steel beam being hoisted into place at 2:25 p.m.
Designed as a facility for interprofessional, team-based health professions education in the 21st century, the Health Sciences Innovation Building will serve as a platform to foster collaboration among multidisciplinary teams of health professionals, students and faculty in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health.
“We’re re-imagining medical education, merging new technology, innovative curriculum and leading-edge design to provide our students with the most comprehensive training, knowledge and resources they need to be successful, team-oriented health professionals,” Dr. Neumayer said.
The building’s unique features include spaces called “flipped classrooms” that can accommodate as many as 150 students for interactive learning, as well as a “special events forum” that allows for more than 1,000 people. Among other advances, the Health Sciences Innovation Building is designed to:
- Close the gap between new technology and modern medical education by expanding the Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center (ASTEC).
- Offer flexible, large, medium and small group/team learning areas and clinical labs and simulation centers for a broad spectrum of instructional applications.
- Improve human health by preparing “collaboration-ready” graduates who will advance medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health.
- Launch valuable public-private partnerships to tap our cognitive diversity and expertise.
- Move health care forward by enhancing research and the development of specialized hardware and software.
- Attract and retain the best health sciences students, faculty, researchers and thought leaders.
About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn)
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