Traditional universities rely largely on rote learning and lecture to convey information to students, with some clinical time in the last year of study. Roseman’s founder Dr. Rosenberg had a different vision for his school, and a different methodology in mind for his students.
For many years, learning models have focused heavily on lecturing and requiring students to memorize facts and information in order to pass a test. While there is a place for lecture in every classroom setting, Roseman University programs are structured to balance that lecture time with other hands-on and experiential learning so students can practice what they hear in the classroom in a real-world setting.
Nursing Students on Ward
Roseman’s nursing school features a skills lab designed to mimic a hospital setting, where students can continuously apply the concepts they learn about in short lectures throughout each curriculum block. Using realistic patient-dummies, nursing students at Roseman practice techniques for taking vitals, administering medication, and drawing blood. The skills lab also features a state-of-the-art mannequin that can manifest symptoms programmed by the professor. The students interact with the “patient,” practicing patient care, assessment strategies, and bedside manner. The student is also recorded with audio and video equipment, and after their time with the mannequin ends, the professor and the student watch the tape together. This gives the student the opportunity to see him or herself the way patients would, and adjust their actions accordingly. Nursing students also participate in clinical rotations that put them in real hospital and clinic settings throughout the 18-month BSN program.
Pharmaceutical Practice
Roseman University offers a three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program that includes extensive didactic (classroom) learning with experiential learning. During the first two years, students are involved in the Introductory Pharmacy Practical Experience, or IPPE. Pharmacy students participate in IPPE for 8 hours a day, and complete 20 IPPE days per year. During these hours, students will interact with customers, complete service learning, shadow pharmacists, and work in both community pharmacy settings, such as a neighborhood pharmacy, and institutional settings, such as a hospital. During the third year, pharmacy students participate in APPE, or Advanced Pharmacy Practical Experience. These students complete six six-week rotations, and are exposed to many different types of clinical pharmaceutical work opportunities, which not only gives them practical experience before they graduate and become pharmacists, it also helps these students decide which work setting they prefer.
Dentists in the Making
Dental students at Roseman get lots of practice drilling and filling cavities, installing crowns and bridges, and giving comprehensive exams long before they ever work on living patients. This experience is made possible by patient simulators that include lifelike replicas of human jaws, gums and teeth. Each student is assigned a simulation station, and spends time in simulation labs with professors working on different procedures in order to master them, and many students spend several hours in the lab before and after classes to perfect their skills. After much practice with the simulation heads, third- and fourth-year dental students are ready for the ultimate in experiential learning: practicing procedures on real patients. All clinical patient work is done in Roseman’s dental clinic: a working dental office that serves the public, and every procedure is done under the close supervision of licensed dentist faculty members to ensure the highest quality and safety for patients.
Roseman delivers real-life, hands-on experiential learning in order to prepare students for the types of problems and experiences they are likely to face in their practices after graduation.