On Campus
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine classrooms, offices and labs are housed in five buildings on and around OU’s West Green. The newest of these is the Academic and Research Center, or ARC, slated to open in 2010. The ARC, a dynamic integrated learning and research facility, features innovative design that facilitates learning and encourages creativity and collaboration. It is one of only a few such facilities in the country. Grosvenor Hall and the Grosvenor Hall West addition house admissions, student affairs, a Learning Resource Center and the dean’s office, as well as other administrative offices, small meeting rooms and classrooms. Gross anatomy facilities in Grosvenor feature plasma screens connected to remote-controlled overhead teaching cameras that allow close-ups of specimens. OU-COM has its own plastination lab—one of only about 120 in the country—which allows the production of plastinated specimens.
OU-COM’s OMM classroom in Grosvenor features a raised, central platform for the instructor and three large plasma screens with six large projection screens to give all students an unobstructed view of OMM demonstrations. The lab has a “media site live” station that captures all of the OMM presentations and lectures and makes them available over the network for review via a secured connection. Locker rooms are adjacent to the OMM lab for students’ convenience.
Additionally, the microanatomy lab and small group rooms feature high resolution video projectors and audio visual equipment designed to enhance the student learning experience.
Irvine Hall contains an auditorium with two lecture halls and an attractive brick lobby often used for social gatherings. In the lecture halls, table-type seating accommodates student laptop computers and other required materials. Tables are outfitted with a push-to-talk microphone system that increases interaction during lectures. Irvine currently houses simulated patient suites, several small group meeting rooms outfitted with plasma screens, classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, and some biomedical research laboratories.
A recent addition to campus, the Life Science Center also houses many of OU-COM’s biomedical faculty offices and laboratories.
Additional administrative and faculty offices are located in Parks Hall, and videoconference rooms and offices are located in the Technology and Enterprise Building on The Ridges, an area of campus separated from main campus by the Hocking River.
OU-COM’s students will also soon benefit from a state-of-the art clinical skills training facility in Grosvenor West when construction of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Center for Clinical Training and Assessment and Free Community Health Care is completed in 2011.
Off Campus
As OU-COM students enter the third year of medical education, they relocate to sites around the state for rotations with clinical faculty in ambulatory settings and hospitals. Twelve hospitals throughout the state are participating members of Ohio’s Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) consortium, along with seven associate member hospitals and seven ancillary members. Ohio’s CORE is widely recognized as the nation’s pre-eminent Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institute. CORE offices throughout the state are staffed by an assistant dean, administrator, and support staff to oversee and coordinate clinical educational programs for students at the hospital(s) in their area. CORE hospitals are accredited by the American Osteopathic Association for a variety of undergraduate and graduate medical education programs.
The CORE provides students with a wide range of clinical resources and diverse pre- and postdoctoral rotation opportunities. Computer and communication technologies are also used to link teaching hospitals with OU-COM through online information systems and an interactive videoconferencing network for seminars and other educational programs. CORE participating and associate member hospitals are:
Affinity Medical Center (Massillon)
Cleveland Clinic/Fairview Hospital (Cleveland)
Cleveland Clinic/South Pointe Hospital (Cleveland)
Fairfield Medical Center (Lancaster)
Firelands Regional Medical Center (Sandusky)
Grandview Medical Center (Dayton)
Humility of Mary Health Partners/St. Elizabeth Health Center (Youngstown)
Humility of Mary Health Partners/St. Joseph Health Center (Warren)
MetroHealth Medical Center (Cleveland)
Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital (New Albany)
Mount Carmel West (Columbus)
O’Bleness Memorial Hospital (Athens)
OhioHealth/Doctors Hospital (Columbus)
OhioHealth/Grant Medical Center (Columbus)
St. John West Shore Hospital (Westlake)
St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center (Toledo)
Southern Ohio Medical Center (Portsmouth)
Summa Health System/Akron City Hospital
Summa Health System/Summa Western Reserve Hospital (Cuyahoga Falls)
More information about the CORE is available at www.ohiocore.org.
Electronic Resources
Because technology plays a vital role in our curricula, OU-COM students must have tablet computers capable of interfacing with OU and OU-COM wireless systems. Combination cards (a, b and g compliant) are recommended since they provide students with the highest level of flexibility on campus and in the community. Computer labs also are available for student use.
The Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine offers COREnet as a communications technology network designed for students, interns, residents, faculty, staff and alumni of the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education. COREnet allows real time distance learning through “face-to-face” video presentations and discussions over a national telecommunications network that supports two-way communication during basic science and clinical tutorials, case-study presentations, and live demonstrations of osteopathic manipulative treatment and other procedures. Students are able to talk with physician preceptors and basic science professors “face-to-face” even though miles apart.
High resolution document cameras which can be connected to a videoconference unit are available for classrooms. OU-COM curricula use Blackboard for network access to instructional materials. MP3 recordings of lectures and all PowerPoint presentations are accessible via the network.
Videoconferencing can be scheduled and initiated from any CORE site to any other site(s). Any common video device (desktop or laptop computer, LCD projector, VCR, camcorder, endoscope, sigmoidoscope, etc.) can be attached to the system and included in a videoconference or training exercise. A regular telephone call can be incorporated into the videoconference to include individuals who may not have access to a videoconference room.
Access to electronic mail, the World Wide Web and OhioLINK—a statewide library system that permits the user to search and borrow from more than five million titles—is available from any of the CORE sites via the OU-COM network. COREnet also provides access to thousands of medical education and clinical resources from major universities and hospitals, and offers a means of completing online exams for third- and fourth-year students. Each COREnet computer is equipped with software that enables the student to create documents and PowerPoint presentations. COREnet is a part of the OhiONE network, which is a partnership of health-care consortia utilizing high-speed interactive networks, videoconferences and telemedicine capabilities with gateways to the public switched network, effectively linking regional, national and international locations.
OU-COM Learning Resource Center
The Learning Resource Center (LRC) in Grosvenor Hall West is an attractive student facility and a hub of activity. The LRC includes a quiet study area, a concise collection of current textbooks and references, photocopying equipment and several small group rooms. The small group rooms—equipped with plasma screens, DVD and video capabilities, x-ray view boxes, computers and whiteboards—are popular spots for study groups.
The LRC also houses a computer lab where students access course resources, use supplemental tutorials, and perform a variety of general computing tasks. Students using laptop computers have excellent wireless access in all areas of the LRC.
The LRC’s holdings are specific to OU-COM curricula, and LRC personnel stand ready to help students locate appropriate study materials and media for their curriculum and to provide technical support in the use of LRC equipment.
Ohio University Health Sciences Library
The main facility on the Athens campus—the Vernon Roger Alden Library—houses the health sciences collection. The university libraries’ collection comprises nearly 3 million bound volumes, over 41,000 periodical subscriptions and huge quantities of additional research materials—including microform units, maps, photographs, and DVDs.
In 2008, the transformation of the health sciences collection to a digital format began. Eighty percent of the collection is now virtual. This allows OU students, faculty, and staff access any time, anywhere. The health sciences librarian provides reference and research assistance as well as bibliographic instruction to promote the development of information literacy skills as they apply to studies in health sciences.
ALICE, the Ohio University libraries’ online catalog, can access library holdings on the main and regional campuses from any library terminal and from outside locations via network connection. Workstations provide access to numerous internet-based databases as well as statewide resources on OhioLINK, national and international resources on the Internet, and to the vast Online Computer Library Center Catalog.
For more information about the Ohio University library system, visit www.library.ohiou.edu. |
