MEDIA CONTACT: Linda Holtz
561-297-0159, lholtz@fau.edu
Gift from Quantum Foundation Brings
Innovative Teaching to FAU and Community
BOCA RATON, FL (April 19, 2005) - A lead gift of $100,000 from the Quantum Foundation of West Palm Beach has brought the "Harvey" patient simulator to Florida Atlantic University. With its virtual reality approach to cardiac diagnosis and care, the "Harvey" patient simulator has become a mainstay for medical and allied health science programs throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Bethesda Memorial Hospital of Boynton Beach also helped with the purchase of "Harvey" through their gift of $25,000 to the university. A promise of future support from JFK Medical Center will establish the Atlantis-based hospital as part of the FAU-Quantum-Bethesda collaboration.
The "Harvey" patient mannequin, named after renowned cardiologist Dr. W. Proctor Harvey, was first developed in 1968 to sharpen medical students' clinical skills by replicating real life scenarios. Its popularity has spawned a variety of similar patient mannequins. The device is currently used by thousands of health professionals for training in over 110 medical centers worldwide. Continually upgraded in its multimedia capabilities, the "Harvey" model's built-in computer system and sound library is programmed to simulate 25 cardiovascular diseases and two normal conditions. Students examine the computerized model and make diagnoses based on presenting symptoms. Those with access to the "Harvey" simulator will enter the medical field well-prepared for emergency episodes.
"We are eager to use this well-regarded applied teaching multi-media device with students from our medical program, from other academic disciplines and within the community," said Dr. Ira J. Gelb, FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Science clinical professor and director of clinical programming. "We are very confident of the long-term benefits of "Harvey" training, especially for students who are learning bedside cardiology."
What separates FAU's "Harvey" model curriculum from other multimedia patient simulator programs is that the robotic will be available to faculty and students from other colleges within FAU, and to community organizations that deal with cases of cardiac health. Nurses and student nurses from the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, exercise and health promotion majors in the College of Education, psychologists and anthropologists in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters will also benefit from "Harvey." In addition, students from Palm Beach Community College, Everglades College and other local learning institutions will have opportunities for hands-on learning time with the simulation model.
Biomedical science faculty members from FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Ira J. Gelb, MD; Robert H. Blanks, PhD; Xupei Huang, MD, PhD and Jay Midwall, MD, serve as the directors of the "Harvey" model program. As part of the cardiac teaching team at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, they have already initiated a major outreach effort to bring North Broward County and Palm Beach County community groups such as fire, police and rescue personnel, hospital workers and members of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts chapters, to FAU's Boca Raton campus for "Harvey" training opportunities.
It is the transdisciplinary nature of the program that drove Timothy Henderson, vice president for programs at the Quantum Foundation, to jumpstart FAU's "Harvey" program. Part of Quantum's gift will be used to build and staff a dedicated patient simulation center in the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Science Center. As the program evolves, additional robotics will be purchased for the center.
For more information, contact Christine Driscoll, project manager for the Cardiac Health Education Center, in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, at 561-297-0622 or driscoll@fau.edu.
-FAU-
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the university serves 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses strategically located along 150 miles of Florida's southeastern coastline. Building on its rich tradition as a teach university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts eight colleges - Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering & Computer Science, and Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs. The University is observing its 40th anniversary this year.
