Wayne State University faculty and students in pharmacy and health sciences programs started the spring term in a new facility described by a local newspaper's high-tech writer as "what may be Detroit's most high-tech building."

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences was designed to provide students with the latest tools to prepare them for health careers in the new economy.

Built with a combination of state funds and private donations, the $64 million, six-story building moves students from an outdated facility in the downtown Detroit area into the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). The center operates seven modern hospitals and some 100-outpatient clinics. The DMC boasts a high concentration of health professionals, including the faculty and students of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, one of the nation's largest medical schools.

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences enrolls more than 800 students in 22 degree and certificate programs Dean of the college Beverly Schmoll enthusiastically describes unique features of the building that utilize the latest research and teaching technologies.

"Every laboratory and classroom has numerous data ports for high-speed access to the Internet in all six floors of the building," Schmoll says, "and that's just the start. The rooms have the latest technology, including ceiling mounted projectors, computers, cameras, video recorders, comfortable Web-enabled chairs, and annotation software that uses Blackboard for faculty-student interaction via the Web.

"Faculty can save their presentations for students on disk," the dean says," and distribute the notes later using Blackboard. That allows our students to concentrate on what their professors are saying rather than struggling to keep up with them in their note-taking."

Beyond the basics, the dean explains, the building features numerous special classrooms. Among the special features and rooms are:

A 198-seat auditorium that features multimedia technology;
Four Smart Classrooms to serve some 300 students with Web access and power for laptop computing;
A Learning Resources Center that includes the library, computer-learning lab and 11 study rooms;
A Human/Patient Simulator Suite, including Emergency Room, a Critical Care Unit, Operation Room and Pediatrics Room;
A state-of-the-art Pharmacy Professional Practice Lab with patient exam and conference rooms equipped with videotape and other technology for students to tape and later discuss their practice interventions;
Distance Learning Facilities;
Tele-video Conferencing Seminar Room;
Physician's Assistant Patient Exam Lab;
Physical Therapy special facilities, including Orthopedic Lab and Underwater Weighing Lab;
Occupational Therapy special facilities, including one-way glass Observation Room and Healthcare Outcomes Lab.

"The Pharmacy Practice Laboratory anticipates the future practice of pharmacy with automatic dispensing and a focus on counseling and overall drug management of patients," Dean Schmoll said. "Technology will play a key role in accessing patient information, providing patient education, and keeping in communication with other health professionals who need to be apprised of a patient's drug therapy and management.

"The building is also much larger than our former home," Schmoll said, "with more classrooms, far more discussion rooms and more seats - from 788 in the old facility to 916 in the new.

"Our mission is to advance health care by providing highly skilled healthcare professionals and, through research, to discover and implement new knowledge. Our new building, named for our primary donor, Eugene Applebaum, will help us and our students in countless ways," she said.