Nebraska State Sen. Sue Crawford, Ph.D., toured UNMC in September.
Sen. Crawford met with university leaders that included Juliann Sebastian, Ph.D., dean of the College of Nursing, Chris Kratochvil, M.D., chief medical officer and associate vice chancellor, research and Howard Liu, M.D., director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) and assistant vice chancellor for faculty development.
Other stops on Sen. Crawford’s tour included the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology (CAST) and the visual simulation room, where she received a demonstration of the MultiTaction wall and other simulation technologies.
Sen. Crawford, who represents District 45 (the city of Bellevue and Offutt Air Force Base), said it was important to see how the state’s investments in the university translate into improved workforce, improved education and improved health for Nebraskans.
She also was impressed by the technology.
“I hadn’t had a chance before to see a lot of these virtual tools,” she said. “Visiting gave me a chance to see how they would be used in the classroom and how they could also be used to improve performance.
“I had mostly thought about the simulation technology as training for new health care professionals,” she said. “But after seeing the technology and discussing its uses, I see how it also will help our professionals who are in the field now continue to improve.”