by S. Rotan Hale
A sizable crowd packed the corridors of Jefferson College of Health Sciences (JCHS) Friday, May 22 for the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the newly established Virginia Intercollegiate Anatomy Lab, (VIAL).
The new $2.5-million facility is the result of 8 months of planning and is a collaborative effort with JCHS, Radford University’s Dept. of Physical Therapy and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine with additional support from Carilion Clinic.
Participating college administrators were joined by a group of staff members, students and a host of city and state officials who gathered on the 8th floor of Jefferson College in downtown Roanoke for the ceremony and tour that followed.
During opening statements, JCHS president Nathaniel Bishop proudly described the project as a “unique partnership between private and public higher education institutions that will have meaning and long lasting implications on the way our students learn, our faculty teaches and our patients receive care.”
Among the speakers on program highlighting the groundbreaking partnership was Dr. Cynda Johnson, president and founding dean, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine who said, “We are the first in the state and probably the nation, to come together as a triumvirate of collages to partner on this type of project. She further referred to the lab as a “dream turned into a reality” and closed on an even higher note adding, “May it lead to a true educational experience for our students and the betterment of health for our community.”
Carilion Clinic vice president Steve Arner mentioned “curiosity as the core value” critical to the development of the project. He characterized VIAL as “an impressive and innovative resource that will help students, from the partnering institutions, accomplish all the elements of curiosity.”
Speaking to the higher level of research opportunity the project provides, Radford University president Penelope Kyle said “With the use of this anatomy lab, our students will be educated and inspired to provide successful healing and therapeutic treatment to those seeking care.”
Calling attention to what she saw as the “most important aspect” of the new “dynamic learning space,” President Kyle further stated, “the citizens of Roanoke and all of southwest Virginia will benefit from the knowledge and experience gained by our future nurses, clinicians, doctors and researchers who are educated at this facility.”
Guest speaker was 12th District Delegate Joseph Yost, an accomplished product of Radford U. In 2011 at age 28, the delegate became the youngest member elected to the Virginia General Assembly and remains to hold that distinction.
Speaking of the innovative and collaborative initiative of the colleges, Delegate Yost praised the endeavor as “the first public/private partnership to build such a facility,” he said and added, “I always like it when firsts come from southwest Virginia because that means we are setting trends.”
The state-of-the-art facility encompasses approx. 8,000 sq. ft. housing 15 separate stations equipped to serve 60 students. Among the innovative features offered are 5 high definition 70 inch monitors allowing students to view, step-by-step, live screening of lab procedures as cadaver dissection, etc.
Additionally, students can connect laptops, tablets and iPads to the monitors for multi-level interactive engagement.
“With this lab faculty will have access to state-of-the-art equipment that can be used to enhance teaching techniques to provide the best possible education which sets the foundation for training the best practitioners,” said Del. Yost who joined a host of others in cutting the ribbon.
