The new, three-story building taking shape on the Palmer College of Chiropractic campus in Davenport, Iowa, is impressive from the outside, but it’s what will happen on the inside that has administrators, faculty and students buzzing on Palmer’s main campus, The Fountainhead of the chiropractic profession. The Palmer College of Chiropractic Academic Health Center will be a unique feature in chiropractic education.
“Because this facility is affiliated with a first professional educational institution, with quality patient-centered care taking place within it, and with a focus on employment of and contribution to scholarship in the profession, it is truly an academic health center,” says Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Dean of Clinics Kurt Wood, D.C. The Center has approximately 50,000 square feet of space devoted to a community outpatient clinic facility and a learning resource center for clinical chiropractic education. It will set a new standard in the delivery of clinical chiropractic education as well as quality chiropractic care.
The Palmer Academic Health Center, with its progressive clinic facility, will further enhance the clinical education that students receive at Palmer College of Chiropractic, and offer expanded chiropractic clinic services in the Quad-City community, comprised of Davenport and Bettendorf, in Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, in Illinois. The new Center is scheduled to open in July 2007, and will include:
- Community outpatient clinic facilities
- Clinical learning resources for students, faculty, alumni and researchers
- A philosophy devoted to best practices in clinical education and patient care
- Digital radiography (X-ray) services
- Chiropractic rehabilitation and sports injury services
- Workers compensation and personal injury services
- Visitor center
Dr. Wood’s excitement for the new facility is palpable as he describes how it will benefit Palmer’s students. “We are gearing Palmer’s clinical education to prepare our graduates for contemporary chiropractic practice,” he says. “The Palmer Academic Health Center facility allows us to shift from a supervisory model to a mentor model of internship. The students will be taking part in all aspects of patient-centered care and management, guided by our faculty clinicians. Our focus will be on best practices, which are made up of three equal parts consisting of evidence (what the scientific literature is telling us), clinician experience and patient expectations.”
The best practices philosophy permeates all aspects of the Center, whether they are in clinical education or patient care. “Our students and patients will have access to the best that technology has to offer,” Dr. Wood says, “including digital radiography, the latest practice management software and a full-service rehabilitation and sports injury department. Because we want our students to be successful in a contemporary chiropractic practice setting, the clinic will be paperless. We want our students to be exposed to electronic records systems and office software products so that they can make intelligent, informed and objective choices for their practices. It’s our responsibility as an institution to give them the tools they need to make the best practice decisions.”
Another unique component of the Palmer Academic Health Center is the learning resource center which, in addition to having the latest multi-media resources for clinical education, will also feature a simulated patient testing center for intern development. “This facility will have two-way mirrors and recording equipment so that interns can come in, go through a mock exam with a simulated patient, and not only be evaluated by a faculty clinician, but also be able to view a tape of the encounter for self-evaluation,” Dr. Wood says. “This allows us not only to conduct clinic competency evaluations, but also to work with students one-on-one to develop their patient communication and clinical skills. This is a key component in their future success. Our students will be more confident of their abilities because of this unique feature.”
The progressive elements of the new Center will benefit patients in the Quad-City community as well as students, faculty, researchers and alumni of Palmer College. “The new Palmer Academic Health Center will set standards in health care, assuring that people will view it as a resource for the community,” says Dr. Wood. “We will continually raise the bar so that we are always setting the standard for others to follow.”
Visit www.palmer.edu or call 800-452-5032.