This past Monday, September 26, my Fundamentals in Biomedical Sciences (II) class was privileged enough to spend the day on a guided tour of the University of Mobile's medical training facilities. We began our day listening to speeches from various members of the University's staff. They discussed with us the different levels of education that their University offered for medical careers. They truly gave an excellent pitch on "WHY MOBILE". After a short prayer led by the University's president, We got to hear a song from the University's choir.
After the introduction, my class was split up into groups and taken through different locations in their medical facilities. The first place my group was able to visit was a Simulation Lab. We got to see a simulation Operating Room with real, operating machines and tools. After this we were able to explore the University's simulation classrooms. In each room, there was a high-tech simulation dummy. These dummies were capable of blinking, breathing, urinating, bleeding, and more. In one classroom, we were able to use a dummy to learn about various pulse locations. We examined brachial, radial, femoral, and pedal pulse locations. We were tasked with finding the location of the "missing" pulse, the pulse point that was not turned on. The missing pulse in question was the left femoral pulse. After this, we used stethoscopes to listen to the dummy's heart and lung sounds. The second simulation classroom had a pregnant simulation dummy. Using Virtual Reality Headsets, we were able to watch a birthing simulation. It was quite fascinating!
The second location we visited was their Cadaver Lab.We spoke to the man in charge of the lab as well as two current students working with the Cadavers. This experience made me realize that I truly do not know much about Cadavers at all! I learned that Cadaver's can be used for multiple years, something I did not know, for I believed that they were one time use. The students talked to us about their experiences with the cadavers. They had one patient with diabetes and a pace maker and other patient with total hip and knee replacements.
After leaving the Cadaver Lab, we sat in on a nursing class. They were learning about pediatric patient evaluations. I found the lecture very interesting despite the fact I really wasn't sure what exactly was going on! Once the class concluded, we were taking directly into a student led campus tour. We got to see various facilities and learn a lot about the school. After our tour, we got a free lunch at their cafeteria. I enjoyed a "balanced" meal of pasta, fries, rolls, diet coke, and chocolate ice cream.
I enjoyed my experience at the University of Mobile, and I surely learned a lot on this trip! I hope we will be able to participate in similar visits to other schools in the future.
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