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AMHERST, N.Y. – ƽ��һФ��̳ College has opened a new state-of-the-art Center for Interprofessional Learning and Simulation (CILS) designed to educate students using real-life clinical experiences and to serve as a regional resource for professional development in the community. 

 “We are proud to unveil this first-class center that will transform the educational experience for our students and provide them a facility in which they will receive real-life training that will best prepare them to serve our Buffalo Niagara region and beyond,” said ƽ��һФ��̳ President Gary Olson. “This project clearly shows that ƽ��һФ��̳ is moving forward despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are excited about the center serving as a much sought-after resource and community partner for learning opportunities for practitioners in a range of fields.”

 Located in ƽ��һФ��̳’s Research and Information Commons, CILS houses eight modern examination rooms, a counseling room, and a space for telehealth, telecounseling, and face-to-face interprofessional learning experiences. At the center, students will be immersed in simulated patient scenarios that mimic real life. Standardized patients, actors who are trained to portray patients with particular symptoms and circumstances, will help bring the clinical cases to life, while the conference room will allow students from different professional programs to work together to interpret patient and client interactions in an interdisciplinary manner.

 “CILS will bring students together to learn the way they will work in their profession – as members of a team and give them practical experience that will enable them to develop a better understanding of the interconnectedness with colleagues in their profession and other disciplines,” said Dr. Michael Brogan, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “By engaging in a variety of realistic scenarios, students will improve their diagnostic, analytical, communications, decision-making, and other core skills all in a safe teaching and learning environment.”

Each space in CILS will be equipped with a video camera that will allow for practical experiences to be recorded and incorporate the use of wireless headphones that will enable students to receive instructions during their experiences. After a simulation, a student will then review their scenario with their faculty member and receive feedback on how they interacted with the patient, reflect on their actions, discuss what went right and wrong, and review areas for improvement, all with the intention of helping them be a more competent, confident, and compassionate professional.

The 2,400 square-foot center, which has established health and safety protocols and universal precautions for all who will use it, is a replica of a professional health clinic. To start, physician assistant studies students will use CILS this fall and then in the spring will broaden to ƽ��һФ��̳ st