A $10M gift by Dean’s Advisory Board Member Rod F. Hochman, MD (MD’79, CAS’79) and his wife Nancy J. Hochman (Sargent’77,’83), will fund a new, state-of-the-art clinical skills and simulation center designed to enhance the student learning environment involving practiced procedures, physical diagnoses, clinical coordination, and patient communications. 

“Nancy and I are honored to be able to support the medical school and its students with our donation to establish the Clinical Skills & Simulation Center,” said Hochman. “On the 45th anniversary of my graduation I have been so impressed with the wonderful accomplishments of our school and its graduates. Dean Antman has been a tireless leader and advocate, particularly regarding advancements like the skills and simulation center. We hope this will be a legacy to our present and future students.” 

The Rod Hochman Family Clinical Skills & Simulation Center will replace the clinical skills and simulation center that has been housed in the basement of the medical school’s Instructional Building for more than two decades. Located on the sixth floor of the Instructional Building, the new center will feature: 

• Space for waiting rooms, 13 clinical skills rooms for teaching, 13 examination rooms for the standardized patient program, and adequate storage. 
• Technology including iPads, intercoms, and the equipment of a standard examination room, including blood pressure cuffs, otoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, and flashlights. 
• A new, user-friendly, web-based, secure healthcare education debriefing platform allowing faculty to view students remotely and provide feedback and evaluations. 
• Examination tables and hospital beds, a simulated ER and surgical suite with one-way mirrors and hospital equipment a new high-fidelity manikin, several new Student Auscultation Manikin systems, and handheld ultrasound machines for point-of-care teaching. 
• Classroom virtual reality technology designed to facilitate faculty collaboration for interdisciplinary training with students from other BU schools such as the School of Social Work, Sargent College, and others. 
• Projection technology based on the systems used in IMAX theatres, allowing professors and students to attend lectures remotely. 

“With this generous gift from Dr. Hochman we will further advance our students’ clinical skills using simulation-based teaching and standardized patient experiences,” said Associate Dean of Medical Education Priya Garg, MD. “This new clinical skills center will give our students dedicated space to engage in situational learning, and face the complexities of medicine before they experience it in real patients. Simulation is an essential active learning method in undergraduate medical education, and we are grateful to have this gift.”