Jackie Long Goding, dean of health professions, began her educational report to the board of trustees with an old Chinese proverb:

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

Long Goding was introducing the patient simulation laboratory in Lawrence which provides health care students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience before being exposed to real patients in a clinical environment.

Central to the patient simulation lab are sophisticated mannequins that can “talk, cry, do anything,” according to Long Goding, who claims they are so realistic that students often forget they are working with a mannequin.

Long Goding demonstrated how the simulation lab works by showing a DVD prepared by health program faculty, staff, and students. In the DVD, teams of students collaborate to provide care for a patient experiencing cardiac arrest.

“We hear anecdotal reports from the clinical agencies indicating that NECC students have more confidence in their clinical skills. We believe this is occurring because of the expanded use of clinical simulations in our programs,” said Long Goding.