The new Health Education Campus, composed of the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion and the Dental Clinic, is bright and ambitious, just like the students who inhabit it. The partnership between Case Western Reserve and Cleveland Clinic to produce a high-tech, highly interactive space for students from the schools of medicine, dental medicine and nursing is a source of pride that President Snyder shares with the many partners and supporters who made the project possible.

Approaching health care education as a team sport

The campus, which includes the 477,000-square-foot pavilion and 133,000-square-foot Dental Clinic, is the university’s biggest construction project to date and is a physical representation of the phrase “health care is a team sport.” 

Those who worked to bring the campus to reality did so based on the belief that interprofessional education—the bringing together of students from various health professions to learn how to support each other to provide the best outcomes for patients—is the future of health care. 

The schools of nursing, dental medicine and medicine—including Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve—are now based at the HEC, and the academic programs all have learning environments and offices in dedicated sections of the HEC. Rather than working out of separate buildings, as was the case in the past, the schools each now occupy a section of the HEC that looks out upon an expansive, central space made bright by light pouring through a massive, specially designed roof. 

Other Case Western Reserve students—most notably, students focused on social work—also spend time in the space as they work with students in other health professions and build collaborative skills. 

High tech and hands-on

The pavilion includes a conference center, 7,000-square-foot auditorium and 4,800-square-foot lecture hall to provide opportunities for students from all programs to learn together. The innovation and simulation labs give students hands-on experience and the chance to test new technology, such as Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality device that enables students to study anatomy and other subjects in three dimensions. 

The Dental Clinic, directly across the street from the Samson Pavilion, gives dental students practical experience using the most current technology while serving as a community resource. Low-cost dental care delivered by students and faculty is available in this new, modern and easy-to-find clinic.