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UTHSCSA
DEAN’S MESSAGE

UT School of Medicine
Dean’s Update:

UT MEDICINE HILL COUNTRY TO SERVE
FAIR OAKS RANCH/BOERNE/LEON SPRINGS

By Francisco González-Scarano, MD

On January 13th, we held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch Faculty, fellows, residents and students to import a patient’s data
the construction of our newest satellite office for UT Medicine. The (CT scans and MRI images of normal and diseased anatomy) and
location, 25723 Old Fredericksburg Road, is approximately half view that in 3-D.
way between Boerne and San Antonio. (One half mile north of
Ralph Fair Road on the east side of Interstate 10.) This facility, Manipulation of the anatomical images using a video controller;
scheduled to open in spring of 2017 will comprise approximately students can rotate images, zoom in and out, filter for certain tis-
19,000 square feet. sues, and generate virtual cross-sections in any plane.

Services at the new location will include primary care, or- Projection of images onto screens in the lab, where students can
thopaedics, radiology, physical therapy, urology and lab services, as view the images in 3-D using goggles that add depth to what they
well as other services on a scheduled rotation. Features include a are seeing.
full-service imaging center with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
CT scanner and digital X-rays. Look for more information as we ALTC classrooms range in size from a room the area of a football
get closer to opening next year. field that can accommodate 280 students, to seminar rooms that
seat 12-18 persons. Unique to this new teaching environment is
interactive Academic Learning & teaching that the classroom is not linear (front and back)– it is an integrated
Center Opens space linked by technology. Even the furniture design encourages
and enhances learning and discussion, with table tops in the student
On February 16th we dedicated our new “Academic Learning & lounging areas that also serve as dry-erase boards for drawing and
Teaching Center” (ALTC), a building that features classrooms with
the latest technology in virtual and actual medical education.

The 130,000-square-foot building features more than 33 ultra-
modern classrooms and strategic learning spaces, and a state-of-the-
art digital anatomy laboratory with 3-D interactive imaging
capabilities. This facility does not replace but enhances traditional
medical school (and other health profession schools) cadaver dis-
section.

Students may be watching a heart surgery in real time in one
classroom while in another classroom students are using virtual
technology to study the anatomy of the heart via CT scans. The
classrooms are designed to support our new curriculum structure
as well, where dynamic meeting spaces focus on discussion-based
exploration and learning.

The ALTC digital anatomy lab educational experience is
equipped with a digital visualization system that allows:

42 San Antonio Medicine • April 2016