On Wednesday, Sparrow Hospital opened the Lansing Neurosurgery Learning Center, providing MSU medical students an opportunity to experience state-of-the-art technology and neuroscience lectures.
Some of the learning center’s features include two 70-inch high-definition televisions on which residents and medical students can watch surgeons operate and ask them questions in real-time, said Christopher Abood, a physician at Lansing Neurosurgical Associates and an assistant clinical professor of surgery at MSU.
Abood said having a high-quality facility is useful in attracting medical students and residents from around the country.
“It’s like MSU having a new football facility,” he said. “It helps with recruiting.”
First-year medical student Ryan Yoon said the new facility could create close-to-home opportunities.
“It’s the study of your brain,” Yoon said. “It’s the only organ that learns about itself. It named itself. You see a picture of the brain, and then you hold it in your hands. You see all the parts, and over history we’ve named so many.”
The Lansing Neurosurgical Associates committed $250,000 to the high-tech learning center, with a joint effort from MSU and Sparrow, according to a statement from the hospital.
The center is the final piece of renovation to Sparrow Hospital’s ninth and 10th floors, which are devoted to neurology and neurosurgery, said David Kaufman, chairman and professor of the MSU Neurology and Ophthalmology Department.
“(The floors include) all the latest equipment for teaching our medical students about neurology and neurosurgery,” Kaufman said. “This will allow us to help educate them on some of human kind’s worst afflictions.”
Programs within the learning center include weekly and monthly lectures and seminars regarding neuroscience topics, Kaufman said. This includes professors visiting from around the country, gatherings of Lansing-area neurologists and weekly lectures for med students and residents.
Abood said among the first of these, on Wednesday an MSU lecturer spoke about deep brain stimulation, a process of attaching electrodes to the brain to help quadriplegic and paraplegic work their arms and legs.
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