The Clinical Learning & Skills Center is located in the New GW Hospital.

Housed on the 6th floor of the new hospital is the GW Clinical Skills Center. Dedicated to education and research, this floor of the hospital features cutting edge technology in a setting that is among the most innovative in the nation. It is here that students will gain the comprehensive clinical exposure, feedback, and evaluation they need to become both technically adept and humane caregivers for their patients. The highlights of this work and the education and research area are:

The Surgical Simulation and Demonstration Area:
Using virtual reality and two full-scale "mock" operating rooms, this area provides highly realistic scenarios for surgical training. Each room can be configured to match the conditions of an operating room, emergency room, or intensive care unit. In addition, a highly sophisticated computer-controlled mannequin is used for practice surgeries. This human patient simulator can be programmed with patient characteristics, such as age, anatomy, and specific physiological conditions. The simulator mimics pulse and other vital signs, and can be programmed to respond to various drugs and interventions. In the adjacent control room, instructors, through headsets and a one-way mirror, can communicate and observe their students. The instructor can also change patient variables on the computer in order to enhance the realism of the simulation.

Standardized Patient Examining Areas:
This entire suite of patient examining areas is designed for teaching and evaluating students in the basic clinical skills of patient history taking and physical examinations along with communication and interpersonal skills. Students have live encounters with actors trained as standardized patients and they are evaluated via one-way mirrors and video equipment in each examining area. The standardized patients interact with students as actual patients would. They then give the students feedback based on a faculty-created checklist. Faculty may also watch the students perform in real time on video monitors, and they can then offer their students pertinent feedback by reviewing with them a video recording of the "examination." Building on the important advance of simulation methodology, this program will result in major educational improvements in the way teaching and evaluations are conducted for healthcare professionals in training.

• The Student Computer Resource Center - Equipped with 15 workstations, this center provides students with the space and technology they need to write charts, read, and research material for their patients. The Center is open to students 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  
• The Resident Lounge/Library - Serves as a gathering place for residents on overnight call and as a general reading area. It houses two computer stations, bookshelves, work tables, a television, and telephone lines.
  
• Office of Education for the MD Program - Provides 1,200 square feet of office space and cubicles for the personnel overseeing various educational functions for the SMHS. This area also includes a conference room for use by the SMHS.

Additional amenities include conference rooms, classrooms, and separate men's and women's locker rooms for residents and students.

Visit the GW HOSPITAL website.