Overview | The Building Inside & Out, with Video | Education & Research | Construction Progress

New building will accommodate larger MD and Physician Assistant classes ...

With a physician shortage on the horizon, the need for the knowledgeable, compassionate health-care providers EVMS is known for is greater than ever. EVMS is doing its part to prepare by boosting enrollment. The new building will give the school room to expand its MD classes by 30 percent and increase physician assistant enrollment by 60 percent.

Students will benefit from new classrooms featuring flexible furnishings, optimized acoustics, customizable lighting and “smart classroom” audio-visual technology.  The entire second floor will be dedicated to modeling, simulation and clinical skills. This floor will feature 16 exam rooms and three group clinical skills rooms with A/V recording capabilities for real-time remote observation and digital capture. The new building will also host a CAVE virtual-reality suite and a 156-person capacity teaching lab to accommodate pathology, histology and microbiology curricula.

... and expand space for medical research

The groundbreaking research done at EVMS will have an impact on the Hampton Roads community — and the world — for years to come. With the addition of the medical education and research building, EVMS will further its research mission to treat and prevent disease by providing facilities for nearly 50 scientists who are targeting diseases such as cancer — a pressing concern for the people of Hampton Roads.

A new cancer research center in the new building will provide more space for O. John Semmes, PhD, professor of microbiology and molecular cell biology and Anthem Professor for Cancer Research, and his team to lead the way in new research arenas. Dr. Semmes became internationally known for helping EVMS become one of the first research institutions to focus on “proteomics,” an emerging scientific field that could yield new cancer-diagnosis tools that show not only the presence of cancer, but how aggressive it is.

From the center’s home in the fourth floor of the school’s new building, the crew of world-class scientists will expand its research into new diagnostic and prognostic tools. Studies such as those at EVMS will vastly improve a doctor’s ability to find the best course of treatment for each individual patient.

Advanced virtual-reality environment would enhance teaching and caring

While we have come a long way for such a young medical school, it is imperative that we not only maintain, but increase our momentum. It is time to further advance EVMS' core objectives — to educate the next-generation of health-care professionals; to offer comprehensive, patient-centered care informed by the very latest medical advances; and to hurdle the boundaries confining what we currently know about illness, injury and disease through ground-breaking research. But to successfully achieve these goals, we must equip our faculty and students with the best technological tools available.

The CAVE (Cave Automated Virtual Environment) is a room-sized virtual reality system that uses advanced technology to create a simulated environment. A combination of high-resolution stereoscopic projection, 3D computer graphics and 3D surround sound work in concert to create a total immersive experience. Housed on the second floor, the CAVE will have the capacity to provide students with a multifaceted, interior view of the human brain, help residents perfect their technique in robot-assisted surgeries, allow faculty to practice triage care during a major disaster, and train patients to overcome phobias by offering them a safe yet realistic setting in which to confront their fears.

This type of 3D simulation requires highly specialized machines that allow researchers and teachers to move medicine forward. Space and infrastructure in the new building have already been set aside and the CAVE is simply awaiting a champion to see it through to fruition. For more information on how you can make the CAVE a reality, contact the EVMS Office of Development at (757) 446-6070.