On the first day of anatomy class this semester, University of Idaho WWAMI students walked into a brightly lit, well-ventilated lab. New state-of-the-art equipment — including TV monitors for observing MRIs and CAT scans — filled the new, innovative space. Natural light filtered in from the windows lining the edge of the lab.
According to Jeff Seegmiller, regional dean and director of WWAMI, students in previous semesters shared a basement anatomy lab in Pullman with Washingoton State University students. The states associated with the program give it its unique name: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
Jeff Seegmiller | Courtesy
“I remember teaching in an anatomy facility that’s always in the basement, poor ventilation, the lighting is poor, so I really wanted to create an anatomy facility that was actually a happy environment to be in,” Seegmiller said. “We’ve patterned this after some of the best anatomy labs in the world.”
Seegmiller is joined in his excitement by second year WWAMI students Kaitlyn Casper, Sarah Doe-Williams and Annika Kohlmeier, who all prefer the new anatomy lab in Moscow over the basement in Pullman.
“It’s so much more technologically advanced than anything really in the basement to deal with,” Doe-Williams said. “We didn’t have any of the technology with the touch screens.”
The dry area in WWAMI Medical Education Program new anatomy lab.
Lex Miller | Argonaut
In addition to the lab itself, the space on the third floor of the Main Street Gritman Medical Center office building includes a study space for students, a conference room and a classroom. Seegmiller noted that the wall decor in the classroom and study space resemble connective tissue. The motifs on the glass walls and doors of the facility follow the biological theme.
The care put into the design and ambience of the space does more than make the lab look pretty. Seegmiller, Casper, Doe-Williams and Kohlmeier all agree the change makes a difference in students’ comfort levels with the material they are learning.
“It changes the learning experience from something in a dungeon that didn’t seem very happy, that didn’t have a very good learning environment to an environment that really supports the student and helps them,” Seegmiller said. “Students are scared coming into that anatomy lab — often times for the first time.”
Seegmiller recognizes the previous WWAMI directors, Gritman Medical Center and Chuck Staben for their efforts in making the anatomy lab what it is today. According to Seegmiller, previous WWAMI directors began the process of creating the new anatomy lab while Gritman Medical Center provided the space and Chuck Staben approved the plans.
“For 46 years, we sat in the shadows. Frankly, it was kind of embarrassing what we would show (people) when we said we had a medical school,” Seegmiller said. “To me, it was kind of a pop-up experience, like the old elementary school pop-up annexes. It had that feel to it.
“We didn’t have our brick and mortar facilities to say ‘This is how we do Vandal medicine,’” he said. “It’s also partnered with UW medicine and together, our University of Idaho and the University of Washington make a high-quality student.”