PCOM Invests $3M+ in Georgia Clinical Learning and Assessment Center Renovation

Students will soon have access to a new and improved Clinical Learning and Assessment Center, known to students, faculty and staff as “the CLAC,” as part of the $3+ million renovation at Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) this summer.

The CLAC, housed in the College’s Old Peachtree Road building, gives GA-PCOM students the opportunity to practice clinical skills, develop crucial communication abilities, and demonstrate that they have achieved clinical competence. Through the use of standardized patients or patient actors and human patient simulators, the center provides students with the opportunity to practice techniques and diagnosis in a supportive environment prior to treating real patients.

Sophisticated wireless mannequins with human-like skin, the patient simulators can breathe, talk or cry in direct response to a students’ touch and interactions.  Students practice handling a broad range of real world scenarios – from taking vital signs and inserting an IV to traumatic injuries and delivering a baby. The simulators are operated remotely by clinical staff in a nearby control room, and each simulation room is equipped with video systems to record the students' interactions and evaluate their performance with faculty and fellow students.

Originally an 1,800-square-foot facility consisting of five patient exam rooms and three simulation rooms, the CLAC is undergoing major renovations to accommodate the College’s increase in student enrollment. In addition to the control room, reception area and administrative offices, the newly-renovated CLAC will expand to 7,000 square feet and feature four simulation rooms and 10 patient exam rooms, as well as an upgrade in equipment and technology. GA-PCOM plans for the CLAC to be operational in time for the 2016-2017 academic year.