From October 2010 to March 2011, Beth Rowles and I designed and oversaw construction of two suites used for medical teaching of Loudoun County Public Schools(LCPS) High School Students.

The site is at the Cornwall Medical Pavilion connected to Loudoun Hospital Center in Leesburg, VA.  The second floor medical training suite is 1,715 square feet and the third floor classroom suite is 2,038 square feet.  The total project size is 3,753 square feet.

The second floor suite contains a radiology lab with a professional x-ray machine, a pharmacy lab with a simulation medication dispensing machine, a laboratory for basic medical laboratory instruction, a classroom for instruction using a ‘sim-man’ robot for the instruction of EMT students, and a hospital bed area in which general nursing is taught.

The third floor suite consists of four classrooms with lockers and instructor office space.  Both suites are fully equipped with cutting-edge education instruction technology (such as Promethian boards) and medical equipment (GE x-ray machine) for the purpose of preparing LCPS students for careers in health and medical sciences fields.

The Claude Moore Scholars Program funded this unique project, which provides high school students the opportunity to explore medical careers and obtain dual enrollment credit through Northern Virginia Community College.  The project was a joint venture between the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, Inova Health System, and Loudoun County Public Schools.

The program encourages high school students to pursue the healthcare industry, provides hands on experience for students to determine if that career path is right for them, and addresses the job shortage in the healthcare industry.  The program is unique nationwide and equips high school students with the knowledge and foundation to complete their certification tests for some health care careers , e.g., EMT, X-ray technician.  For other more intense healthcare program, such as LPN, RN, the students going through the Claude Moore Academies program are more attractive candidates to the competitive college programs that complete this education.  Using the dual enrollment credit, their necessary degrees are completed faster and at less expense to the student.

At the ribbon cutting March 22^nd, 2011, Beth and I had the opportunity to meet some of the high school students completing the program.  It was incredible to realize how helpful the program was to these young adults in jumpstarting their careers.  As we spoke or listened to them in the video commemorating the event, it was evident we had been fortunate to work on a program that would so help students.

– Anne Robinson, Project Manager, DBI’s Reston Office