Einstein Clinical Skills

Bronx, NY

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine has acquired the 360,000 sf Van Etten building, built in the early 1950s as a tuberculosis sanatorium, and used since by Jacobi Hospital as a public outpatient hospital facility. The adaptive reuse of Van Etten into a significant mixed-use building and a flexible near-term resource is a key component of EE&K’s Einstein Campus Master Plan. A key focus is the synergistic co-location of Clinical Research and Clinical Education programs, promoting collaboration and cross-fertilization of ideas across disciplines as outlined in Einstein’s Strategic Research Plan. This clinical focus also has the potential to fulfill Einstein’s mission to bring together basic scientific research and the health of the larger community, embodied in Einstein’s new brand: “Science at the heart of medicine”.

The first project to be undertaken for Einstein in the Van Etten building is “Phase Zero”, the 22,000 sf Clinical Skills project. EE&K is currently designing this new educational facility, which serves a critical component of Einstein’s M. D. program. In the 23 examination rooms, students learn to carry out routine medical procedures by practicing first on each other, and then on trained actors who simulate patients. These spaces are also used for the OSCE (Observed Standardized Clinical Examination), which is a highly regulated testing procedure essential to medical certification. Cameras record the OSCE, and one-way glass in the corridors permits faculty to observe the testing in progress.

Clinical Skills has been located on the second floor of the building to allow the 180 students to access the space via stairs as well as elevators. As the first space Einstein will occupy in the building, the interior is being transformed to project a fresh, forward-looking image for Einstein. In addition to the 23 examination rooms, a student classroom with raised platform, a faculty conference room, actors’ lounge and observation room are included, and space has been set aside for a future Medical Simulation facility. The space is scheduled for completion in August 2009.