I ("I" referring to the "Center for Community Leadership") hosted my first ever Wake up Wednesday yesterday morning at the MSU College of Human Medicine. I keep wanting to just call it MSU, but according to their communications department I must always refer to it as the MSU College of Human Medicine. I think I am actually supposed to end that with "Secchia Center" but that is a mouthful. Anyway, each month I ("I") will be hosting this open-event series designed to stimulate community involvement as well as engage current and emerging leaders in dialog and action the second Wednesday of every month from 7:30AM - 9:00AM. You might as well grab your calendars right now. Who am I kidding, no one carries calendars anymore...grab your phones and enter it in baby! Where was I? Oh ya, I had this Talk & Tour with the lead Architect for the Secchia Center (shh!) Dick Temple and the Senior Director of Advancement, Susan Lane. They did an incredible job giving us an overview of the impacts that the MSU College of Human Medicine is having on the Grand Rapids community. What did I learn, you ask? Well...
- There were over 6,000 applicants for only 200 spots in the current med class. (100 in East Lansing / 100 in Grand Rapids) - I guess that means I should be more impressed with my friends Karan & Mike who are currently going through the program!
- The Secchia Center cost $90 million to build. $50 of that was raised by private donors. It is entirely financed without public funding!
- All of the furniture is made by Steelcase (not surprisingly necessarily but good to know!)
- In its first ten years, the facility is projected to increase regional economic activity by $1.57 billion.
- The building is 180,000-square-feet.
- Over 1,000 local Physicians assist in educating the MSU medical students. Whether it's teaching one hour or one semester.
- They have these buttons w. speakers on them in the lecture halls so that when a student wants to comment during lecture, they can press the button and their voice is projected. Not only the students in the lecture hall can hear more clearly, but also the students who are simultaneously hearing the lame lecture can hear and respond.
- They have ping pong and are about to get a wii. (But no bowling alley in the Union - suckers!!)
- They have these nuts surgical simulation rooms (Styron donated) that are insanely realistic. The dummies that the students operate on can talk. Yes, talk. They also can have reactions when the students are putting an IV in. Not to mention they also bleed and die (well, if things don't go well). Susan Lane mentioned that other institutions who use this technology have had problems with people getting emotionally attached to these dummies because they are so lifelike and they can experience strong negative emotions if they kill them. Wild world we live in!
That's the gist of the most interesting things I learned. It is a BEAUTIFUL facility and if you have the opportunity to check it out, I would recommend you do!
- Lizzie