Health department gets new equipment from MWSU Campus Watch on Vimeo.

The college of health sciences went shopping over the summer, shopping for an $80,000 Anatomage Table,  the most technologically advanced anatomy visualization system for anatomy education.

“Obviously this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime so to speak opportunity,” James Johnston, dean of the Gunn College of Health Sciences and Human Services, said.

This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is costing the department $80,000, but Johnston says this purchase will be worth every penny.

“It was a piece of equipment that we found broad use for in this college, which is very large and broad in what we teach. When it touched that many departments with one purchase it’s certainly worth taking the opportunity,” Johnston said.

The table, basically a 7-foot laptop, professors can load a lesson onto their USB, plug it into the table and pull it up in a matter of seconds.

More than 100 institutions across the globe have Anatomage tables. These tables are made in the U.S. and the process of building them doesn’t begin until they are ordered.

Johnston says being able to have one on campus will give our students the upper hand.

“It has so much more than what you could do with a human cadaver. I know it’s strange for some people to think about studying the human body in that way. But it is very important for health care providers and human services providers to understand that,” Johnston said.

Faculty members have been training via webinars and face-to-face this fall semester. Students will get the chance to put their hands on this new education gem in the spring.