A wealth of new student learning opportunities is on the agenda as the new Griffith Health Centre opens its doors to the community this week.
To be opened this Friday 19 July by Her Excellency The Honourable Quentin Bryce AC CVO, the $150m Griffith Health Centre will operate alongside the new Gold Coast University Hospital as part of a Health and Knowledge Precinct on the Gold Coast.
The Griffith Health Centre is providing an interdisciplinary learning environment that will also give students the opportunity to use facilities at the new Gold Coast University Hospital when it opens in September.
With a focus on Chronic Disease Management and Sports Health, teaching and learning will focus highly at the Centre with students from a broad range of health disciplines set to benefit.
Bachelor of Medicine students have already provided positive feedback to the move up to the new centre from their previous location at Griffith’s Southport building.
“We have only been in the new Centre a couple of days, but already we’re really excited about the state-of-the-art facilities for studying medicine,” says second year Medicine student Tommy Brennan, also president of the Griffith University Medicine Society (GUMS).
“The facilities are very well set up and the clinical skills rooms which are specially designed for patient interviewing look to be of high quality. The interactive whiteboards to be used as part of our problem-based learning are also going to be extremely useful.”
Tailor-made to Griffith’s learning-based clinical skills methodology
Associate Professor Gary Rogers from the School of Medicine said the new facilities – tailor-made to Griffith’s learning-based clinical skills methodology – include 20 clinical skills rooms each designed for six students and a facilitator.
“These small groups now have the opportunity to pre-prepare for clinical skills learning by watching video material of for example, physical examination techniques or procedural skills such as insertion of a catheter. This allows for better use of small group time.
“Students can start practicing their skills straight away, with the facilitator coaching and guiding rather than just talking while they listen.
“With the new facility we also have the advantage of acoustically divided spaces, where student groups will be able to comfortably interact without interfering with each other’s work.
“Additionally we will be benefiting from a dedicated communication suite. Here each student can undertake simulated patient/doctor consultations with actors while the rest of the group and the facilitator observe through one-way glass. This will provide anunparalleled learning experience for our medicine students,” said Associate Professor Rogers.
Griffith University is launching a suite of initiatives under its three-year ‘New Griffith 2013-2016’ program, signifying an intensive period of change and innovation.
For more information on ‘New Griffith’ visit http://www.griffith.edu.au/newgriffith