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Construction on UNMC’s new student apartment complex is nearly complete. Students already occupy the building on the right, closest to the Ronald McDonald House. The building on the left will be finished this fall. |
More than 500 new students, including 12 new international students, and approximately 65 new faculty members are joining the UNMC community this school year. UNMC’s total annual enrollment is approximately 2,865, although final statistics will not be available until mid-to-late September.
Earlier this month, students began moving into the one- and two-bedroom apartments in UNMC’s new $4.8 million student apartment complex at 38th Avenue and Jackson Streets, near the Ronald McDonald House. The three-story complex, which consists of two brick buildings of 30 units each, is the first apartment building UNMC has ever built on its campus. Construction on the second building will be completed this fall.
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Projection screens transform the gross anatomy lab. |
The College of Medicine is putting a greater focus on professional development, requiring each student to be evaluated on their professionalism after every core, clerkshop and senior rotation. Throughout the year, medical students also will take part in an online professionalism survey that allows them to comment on real-life scenarios. “It will help students discuss the gray areas and see how others interpret data differently,” said Gerald Moore, M.D., associate dean of the College of Medicine.
The School of Allied Health Professions reports a record number of students in its entering class – 170 in all, said Mary Haven, associate dean of SAHP. She says the numbers reflect a response to the health care workforce shortages.
The UNMC College of Nursing has received word that it will receive nearly $1.2 million over three years from the federal Health and Human Services to launch a new accelerated baccalaureate program designed for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field. “It’s a very intensive nursing program that shortens the upper division curriculum from five to three semesters,” said Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc. dean of the College of Nursing. The program is expected to start in the spring of 2005.
In addition to revising its student view book, UNMC Student Services soon will unveil its first minority-recruiting brochure. That comes on the heels of hosting more than two dozen minority research students – a record number – on campus this summer. Beyond existing affiliation agreements with Dillard University and Fort Lewis College, work continues to develop ties with other minority colleges across the country.
This marks the first full school year that UNMC’s 600-plus graduate students will experience the Durham Research Center facilities. The building opened last November, and researchers finished moving in earlier this year.
The McGoogan Library of Medicine is promoting four new resources that will benefit UNMC faculty, staff and students. The resources — ScienceDirect Backfiles, Exam Master, FIRSTConsult and images.MD – respectively provide online access to past journal articles, online test capabilities, clinical diagnosis information and downloadable medical images.
Students at the College of Dentistry in Lincoln will return to a newly renovated north clinic, complete with 47 new operatories. By mid-October, the clinic also will feature dental simulation heads and computer monitors for electronic instruction. The simulated patient head, comprised of plastic teeth and soft cheeks, will fit into the dental chair, similar to that of a live patient. Depending on the model, students could hone a variety of skills including restoring crowns, filling cavities, removing tartar, and mimicking extractions.
Through a new student fee, the college also has replaced about 170 old dental chairs at its Lincoln and Omaha sites.
The College of Pharmacy saw its highest number of applicants in recent years, enrolling 65 students out of 284 applicants. The Class of 2008 has an average GPA of 3.74, one of the highest in the college’s history, said Charles Krobot, Pharm.D., associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Pharmacy. Similar to the national average, the entering class is 75 percent female. All but 10 of the students are from Nebraska.
International studies and programs will be adding two medical service trips for upper level students to Jamaica and Guatemala. They also are working with College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., to develop a formalized agreement to send medical students to his alma mater, the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia, for a four-week rotation. Adelaide is a city with a population of about 1.3 million. Three students will be going this academic year. In addition, the IS&P staff is planning to host an International Health Care student conference in September 2005.
Watch upcoming issues of UNMC Today for more information on these new campus features. If you have interesting campus stories and/or photo ideas, send them to today@unmc.edu.