Breaking Educational Boundaries

When Veronica Greer, M.D., took visitors through the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Yandell Education and Training Facility during its open house, she was showcasing something that has become close to her heart.

Since the nursing school location opened, Greer, residency program director and assistant professor and residency program director in the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine, has labored tirelessly to make the educational facility a place for interdisciplinary teamwork.

The facility is equipped with hi-fidelity simulation mannequins as well as virtual training software. Greer said this centrally-located establishment in El Paso will help train personnel together in medical disciplines such as nursing and medicine.

“What we're doing here is creating teamwork by practicing interdisciplinary and interprofessional training early in our students' career so that we can all get better at what we do,” Greer said. “We're breaking down those boundaries early so that it doesn't affect them later."

Greer said other community medical organizations who need their personnel to polish or update medical skills are also welcome to take advantage of the facility’s services.

“By practicing together, we learn together and we respect each other through the process,” Greer said. “We practice as teams so that we can better be at what we do. It's all about teamwork. We help each other out and ultimately that results in better care for our patients.”