Lund, the dean of the School of Health Sciences, shared her expertise during a panel discussion focused on technological advances in education and health care.
Maha Lund, dean of the School of Health Sciences at Elon University, recently discussed how rapid advances in technology are impacting education and health care during the Invest: Raleigh-Durham 2024-25 Launch Conference in Raleigh.
Lund was a member of the event’s opening panel, which was focused on how to manage disruption caused by technology in these key sectors. Lund was joined on the panel by Steve Lawler, president and CEO of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, and Curt Ladig, president and CEO of Delta Dental of North Carolina. The discussion was moderated by Abby Lindenberg, president and CEO of Capital Analytics, which hosted the event.
Lund highlighted the benefits of using advanced technology to teach practical skills to future health care providers. Elon’s School of Health Sciences is home to bachelor’s degree programs in nursing as well as graduate degree programs in physician assistant studies and physical therapy. “When we teach anatomy, we have our donor lab and anatomy lab, but with mixed reality, we can have students walk around the brain and better understand its functions,” Lund said. “They need to practice, and they can do that on people or with technology, repeating the procedure until they have mastered the skill.”
A fourth and final renovation of the Gerald L. Francis Center, where the school is located, is being completed this summer, with previous phases including the addition of an interprofessional simulation lab equipped with augmented, virtual and mixed reality technology. Members of the university community are invited to an open house on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to tour new renovated spaces.
“Innovations come out so quickly that by the time we are using them, there is already something better and faster available. We must identify the next big thing and innovate how our teachers adapt to these technologies. Students are savvy and often teach each other, so collaboration is key,” Lund said.
Read the full article about the event for more information.