Dr. Melissa Quinn is a passionate proponent of the idea that not every student learns the same way. That philosophy informs her work in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, where she aims to bring an individualized approach to her teaching and mentoring.
Often, that means embracing new technology, like the Sectra Table she’s begun integrating into her anatomy lessons.
“Think of it like a giant iPad,” says Quinn, an Associate Professor – Clinical in the Division of Anatomy. The table allows students to interact with vivid 3D models of the human body from multiple perspectives and in granular detail. It’s a digital recreation of the type of experience that, until now, had only occurred in the lab.
The Sectra Table is a highlight of a new innovation hub that is changing the game for the medical and health sciences communities at Ohio State. The EdTech Incubator (ETI), located in Prior Hall’s Health Sciences Library, brings together cutting-edge technologies — from virtual and augmented reality to 3D printing — in a space where students, faculty and researchers can gather to explore new ways of learning.
“It allows us to do more and really does create a personal experience for students,” Quinn says.
The Sectra Table brings practical benefits, such as permitting a student who is sick and misses time in the lab to make up that lesson. It can be set up for multiple curricula, so that different Ohio State programs can use it for their own needs. It also integrates with the ETI’s virtual reality headsets, giving a user a more interactive experience while allowing others in the room to see exactly what they’re seeing.
The table is even helping Quinn and her fellow anatomy faculty bypass one of the main limitations of their usual teaching methods. In the lab, they typically examine anatomical donations from the recently deceased that need to be returned after a short period of time. Now, the Sectra Table allows for scans that will create digitized versions for use in perpetuity.
“They’re already making an impact, but to know we can prolong that even further is huge,” Quinn says of the donors, “and from our perspective that adds to the gift they are giving us.”
For the College of Dentistry, the ETI has been crucial to its forward-looking “digital dentistry” curriculum.
In a collaboration with engineering faculty, dentistry students were trained in the use of 3D printers and brought to the ETI to put that work into practice. One hundred twenty students used the 3D printers to craft partial tooth restorations that would be used for patients with extensive or uncommon dental challenges.
“Going forward, the world’s just much more collaborative. You have to be, to do the best for your patients and society.”
The students, all in their second year of dentistry school, used specialized software in the ETI’s computer lab to map out the precise shape of the dental onlays. In the 3D printing lab down the hall, unshaped grey resin was transformed into real models, each groove exactly as it was outlined moments before, down to the tenth of a millimeter.
“There’s a whole world within dentistry that 3D printing will impact, which is very exciting,” says Fiona Chambers, who after graduating from the doctor of dental surgery program will spend three years as a practicing dentist on an Air Force base. She says her future employer particularly values the sort of innovative practices made possible by the ETI. “As my career evolves, this will be evolving. So it’ll be fun to grow alongside the technology.”
The College of Dentistry’s work in the ETI showed how, beyond the benefits of embracing the new technology that’s native to a particular field, opportunities for innovation can come from other disciplines as well.
“Going forward, the world’s just much more collaborative,” says Darryl Hamamoto, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Dentistry. “You have to be, to do the best for your patients and society.”
“I think this is amazing,” he added while observing the 3D printing exercise in action.
More Ohio State programs are making use of the ETI as its offerings expand. Medical students are using the virtual reality consoles to practice emergency responses in mass casualty situations. A tech-enhanced classroom is available with sophisticated arrangements for the latest in hybrid and remote learning. A recording studio — aptly named “THE Studio” — will give faculty, staff and students the opportunity to produce videos and podcasts.
The ETI’s impact has also started to extend beyond Ohio State. Quinn leads her division’s outreach efforts, which bring in public school students from throughout the state — from Upper Arlington to small towns along the Indiana border — to learn about anatomy. The Sectra Table has already been useful in showing younger kids the basics about the skeletal system.
Whether at the elementary or postgraduate level, the hands-on technology available at the ETI is creating opportunities for new teaching methods that best fit the needs of educators and their students.
“I love that individual piece to learning, and feeling like it’s a customizable thing,” says Quinn. “And if we can do that at a big institution like this, in our way with technology, that’s the icing on top of the cake because it just makes it fun.”
