Brad von Gillern, a candidate for Legislative District 4 in west Omaha, visited the UNMC campus on Aug. 8.
The former Lueder Construction CEO toured the Davis Global Center to see how simulation and visualization technologies are helping train future health care professionals. He also had meetings with UNMC’s High School Alliance team, UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, and the university’s government relations team.
Within the Davis Global Center, von Gillern heard Chancellor Gold and University of Nebraska President Ted Carter – via their holographic images – discuss the role of UNMC’s iEXCEL initiative, which improves human performance and effectiveness through simulation and experiential learning technologies.
And von Gillern had his own iEXCEL moment when, inside UNMC’s five-sided laser cave, he donned a 3D headset and stepped "inside" a blood vessel to see how blood flows.
Impressed by the technology, von Gillern said he is particularly interested in the ROI of the training, which is something iEXCEL started tracking with the opening of the Davis Global Center. "Some of that you can measure, and some of that you can’t," he said. "I’m not big at throwing money at things because they’re cool, but if we’re seeing the benefit from that … you’re on the bleeding edge and need to be on the bleeding edge, or you’ll never get to the cutting edge and advance."
High-tech equipment is invaluable, said Jenni Bouckhuyt, director of simulation operations at iEXCEL, because "nothing replaces the benefits of hands-on learning."