Health Education Center
An award-winning simulation center redefining interprofessional medical training. The project received the Best Project Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research Category from Engineering News-Record (ENR Texas & Louisiana Region), recognizing its innovation, impact, and excellence in design.
The Problem
Healthcare education is evolving toward collaborative, patient-centered care, yet traditional academic environments are often siloed by discipline. UTMB needed a facility that could support interprofessional education at scale. One that allowed students, residents, and faculty from different specialties to learn together, practice complex scenarios, and develop communication and teamwork skills in a realistic, controlled environment.
The challenge was to design a highly technical, simulation-driven space that balanced operational complexity with intuitive organization, ensuring the right disciplines were adjacent, while also creating shared spaces that fostered collaboration, access, and student success.
The Design Journey
Our team led a deeply collaborative planning process, working closely with university leadership, faculty, clinicians, and staff across disciplines. We conducted stakeholder interviews and workshops to understand how students and educators learn, how different specialties interact, and what spatial adjacencies were critical to effective training.
Key design considerations included:
Aligning clinical simulations (OR, ICU, and standardized patient suites) with supporting disciplines such as anesthesiology and nursing
Designing flexible, technology-enabled learning labs that could adapt to evolving curricula
Supporting flipped-classroom pedagogy with flat-floor classrooms and adjacent debrief spaces
Creating shared circulation and study areas that encouraged interaction across programs
Simulation spaces were designed to support a wide range of scenarios while allowing teams to practice communication, decision-making, and prioritization in a safe, controlled environment.
The Business Impact
The resulting Health Education Center serves as the cornerstone of UTMB’s interprofessional education strategy. The facility supports immersive, simulation-based learning proven to accelerate knowledge retention and integrate technical skills with critical thinking and teamwork.
The project received the Best Project Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research Category from Engineering News-Record (ENR Texas & Louisiana Region), recognizing its innovation, impact, and excellence in design.
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An award-winning simulation center redefining interprofessional medical training.