At UNMC facility set to open in 2018, students and professionals will practice on high-tech mannequins - Julie Anderson / World-Herald staff writer

Groundbreaking is taking place at the site of a new, four-story building featuring replicas of hospital settings where students and health professionals alike can practice treating lifelike, computer-driven mannequins. They’ll also have at their disposal new high-tech visualization and virtual reality tools — some the first of their kind in the world — that will allow them to virtually map a brain tumor or see how a protein folds. University of Nebraska Medical Center officials announced Monday that the $118.9 million center, which they expect to transform health care education. “This is transformational,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, UNMC’s chancellor. Gold said he’s not aware of another center around the world that has the center’s blend of high technology, including a five-sided virtual reality environment and a 130-seat holographic theater, and hands-on applications. http://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/at-unmc-facility-set-to-open-in-students-and-professionals/article_43e34d0a-1899-11e7-a1b2-97c1ff780401.html