Health Sciences Learning Center dedicated

Gov. Jim Doyle joined Chancellor John Wiley, the deans of the three health sciences schools, and other academic, hospital and community leaders May 7, at a dedication marking the completion of the Health Sciences Learning Center.

The center is adjacent to UW Hospital and Clinics, and connected by a covered overpass to the School of Pharmacy’s Rennebohm Hall. The $55 million learning center will serve as the educational hub for students in the: health sciences, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy and physician assistants.

Further unifying the disciplines, the staffs and collections of the three health sciences libraries, Middleton, Powers and Weston, will consolidate in the new Ebling Library, which extends through three floors.

The old Wisconsin General Hospital on University Avenue has been home to the Medical School for nearly 80 years, while nursing faculty have been teaching in crowded Clinical Sciences classrooms since 1979. All Medical School administrative and educational units will move into the 250,000-square-foot learning center. The School of Nursing will move 90 percent of its classes into the new building.

The move starts Tuesday, June 1, and will be completed by the time fall classes begin. Once students, faculty and staff settle in, they will enjoy some of the most sophisticated technology and learning-friendly spaces in existence. Features include:

• Four large lecture halls, including the 350-seat Medical Alumni Hall, will be equipped with cutting-edge audio, video and computer capabilities.
• Technology will allow the medical and nursing schools to expand distance education programs, delivering instruction under way at the Health Sciences Learning Center to the far corners of the state.
• The entire building is wireless, permitting people to use laptop computers without having to plug them in.
• The clinical assessment center features 24 examination rooms set up for a clinic or hospital setting. Students will practice clinical skills on mock patients. The rooms will be equipped with digital recorders facilitating easy analysis of the interactions.
• Learning communities will be a key feature in fostering interactions among students of all kinds to encourage individual and small-group learning.
• The Ebling Library contains 16 group-study rooms, 19 research work stations and seating for 350. Inviting places to study and relax are scattered throughout the library and the Health Sciences Learning Center.
• The learning center also houses a cafe, a store with books and supplies, and limited underground parking.

The Health Sciences Learning Center is the newest addition to a burgeoning health sciences enclave on the west end of the UW–Madison campus. An interdisciplinary research complex and a nursing sciences building are planned.

During the grand opening week, Sept. 12-19, the public will be invited to tour the building.