INTEGRATED HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING
Celebrating its second anniversary this year; the impact of the Integrated Health Sciences Building at the University of Central Arkansas has been felt by students, faculty and the community. This state-of-the-art integrated facility includes the interprofessional teaching center, the Speech-Language-Hearing Center, and a cutting-edge simulation lab, all of which provide students with transformative real-life learning experiences. In addition to offering students a collaborative and professional environment preparing them for various health care fields, this unique space provides the community with screenings and health care vital to a growing region.
Nursing major Caroline Cecil has already felt its impact. “We have a nursing lounge to relax and regroup after long lecture periods, and the simulation labs are incredible. They have manikins and equipment that allow us to feel what a hospital room feels like and those have impacted my learning for sure. It’s a safe place to try things that we wouldn’t be able to in the clinical setting. They’re amazing,” Cecil said.
Nursing Major
Serving 1,000 clients and providing more than 7,000 hours of therapy, screenings and evaluations in the Speech-Language-Hearing Center; this cutting-edge space also impacts the community while resulting in experiential learning opportunities for students.
Communication sciences and disorders major Rachel Buck said, “Having the Integrated Health Sciences Building just makes sense. I love having the clinic on the first floor because we have the opportunity as students to see what we’ll be doing in the future as clinicians. It is also beneficial to have students and professionals with different areas of expertise all within one building. In the professional world, we will all be working together as speech-language pathologists, nurses and occupational therapists so it makes sense that we begin collaborating now as students. The areas of health science have so much in common and using a building to physically integrate them emphasizes the importance of collaboration and treating the whole person rather than a single issue.”
Communication Sciences and Disorders Major
Nursing major JaNaya Hogan, who’s preparing to become a pediatric nurse, witnessed the community impact first-hand, “Last year, seniors did drives where they would do blood pressure checks or community wellness checks to boost our community. Unfortunately, health care isn’t available to everyone, so UCA, through its Integrated Health Sciences Building and its students and staff, has done things like this to reach out to the community to let them know that we’re here. I’ve already seen the impact on the community and I know it will continue to bring the community together and make health more of a priority.”
Nursing Major
UCA’s commitment to experiential and transformational learning for its health care majors is making change for students, the community and beyond.