Northeast College of Health Sciences is leading in the revolutionary ways technology is merging with tradition to give students the best evidence-informed tools and resources to succeed in chiropractic education.
As Northeast College President Dr. Michael Mestan said during the recent grand opening of the College’s FAST Lab, “We’ve come a long way in advancing chiropractic education and reimagining health.”
In a new era of chiropractic education, the best traditions are merging with the latest technologies as we progress into the integrated and collaborative future of health care. Northeast provides one of the most comprehensive chiropractic learning environments in the industry, ensuring students have access to the best training and educational tools so they graduate as expert adjustors and become leaders in healthcare.
High-Tech Tools Complement Tradition
The robust, evidence-informed education at Northeast merges technology with tradition as students learn through:
- Human cadaveric dissection at the Northeast Anatomy Center
- Experiential and clinical education rotations in Northeast’s three outpatient health centers and placements in a diverse range of other healthcare clinics, hospitals, practices and settings
- Anatomage Table with touch-sensitive 3D simulation of virtual human dissection
- Force-Sensing Table technology in the College’s FAST Lab
Time-Tested Excellence
Human Cadaveric Dissection
The state-of-the-art Northeast Anatomy Center provides a laboratory for the time-honored tradition of educating via human cadaveric dissection – an experience available to less than .1% of the world’s population and considered by many experts to be the gold standard for learning human anatomy. Human bodies are donated through Northeast’s Anatomical Gift Program, which supports whole-body donation for education and research. These donations are an invaluable part of health sciences education, allowing students to gain the deepest possible hands-on understanding of the complex anatomy on which they will ultimately practice.
“In many ways, the cadaver is a student’s first patient experience,” said Dr. Michael Zumpano, professor and director of the College’s Anatomy Center and Anatomical Gift Program. “What we do in the anatomy labs and lectures corresponds directly to (students’) future work with patients.”
The Power of Hands-on Learning
Chiropractic students begin their hands-on, experiential education right away at Northeast, learning and practicing palpation (e.g., conducting a hands-on physical examination of fellow students to identify layers in the body) in their very first term. Another key introductory class that sets students up to properly learn adjusting skills is psycho-motor. In this class students are taught activities that are primarily movement-oriented, setting the foundation of learning high-velocity, low-amplitude adjusting.
Then, beginning second trimester, students begin to practice actual manual manipulation and adjustment techniques. And that’s just the beginning: “Northeast’s doctor of chiropractic students will perform more than a thousand adjustments during their time at the College, including a minimum of 150 in a clinical setting,” said Dr. Timothy Whiting, instructor and faculty clinician at Northeast’s Campus Health Center and Seneca Falls Health Center.
Chiropractic students’ immersive clinical experience spans multiple trimesters. First, students complete a 15-week assignment in the Northeast Campus Health Center providing care to the campus community under the close supervision of expert faculty clinicians. Then they are given a clinical home base or “hub” location in one of Northeast’s three outpatient, community-based health centers across New York state. This begins their year-long clinical clerkships during which they begin to provide patient care while mentored by Northeast clinicians.
The intensive clinical education is further diversified with dozens of opportunities for student clerks to participate in rotations across the United States and Canada. These rotational assignments can take students beyond the Northeast centers to a broad range of healthcare settings including regional hospitals and medical centers, private practices, community clinics and rehabilitation facilities. Students can even apply to work rotations in Department of Defense (DoD) and United States Veterans’ Affairs Department (VA) medical facilities
It’s this comprehensive care that sets Northeast apart. Northeast’s broad range of patients means students are working with individuals from infants to the elderly, “ said Dr. Whiting. The College continually adds new clinical rotation and clerkship opportunities for students to gain this real-world, practical experience while working directly with Northeast clinicians.
Revolutionary Technologies Compliment Traditional Techniques:
3D Anatomy & Virtual Dissection Table
Complimenting dissection studies in the Anatomy Center, the College’s first Anatomage Table was added to the student toolbox in Summer 2022. The table is billed as the most technologically advanced 3D anatomy visualization and virtual dissection tool available for health sciences education.
The seven-foot-long Anatomage Table’s touchscreen technology allows users to explore a large library of diverse case studies, interacting with anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of a human bodies through videos, advanced imaging and more. “The integration of the (Anatomage Table’s) latest technology on our campus is a wonderful opportunity for our students and faculty to foster active learning in multiple degree programs,” said Dr. Robyn Wakefield-Murphy, assistant professor in Northeast’s Foundational Sciences Department.
FAST Lab Features Cutting-Edge Technologies
Yet another revolutionary tool recently introduced in the chiropractic field is force-sensing table technology, now available to chiropractic students at the College’s cutting-edge Force Assessment Simulation Technology (FAST) Lab.
In the FAST Lab, students practice their skills while working with human analogue mannequins on treatment tables with embedded Force Sensing Table Technology™. The students receive on-demand, direct feedback via connected display monitors, getting instantaneous data about manual adjustment force and speed to help them refine their techniques and become expert adjustors – something for which Northeast-trained chiropractors are renowned.
Northeast’s FAST Lab is among the best chiropractic education facilities of its kind, said Dr. David Starmer, education coordinator at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and integral figure in the creation of the original FSST technology.
“Northeast has an ideal lab set up for its students,” said Starmer, who has worked closely with all FSTT user institutions. “From my perspective (Northeast College) is primed to be among the leader institutions in the educational arena based on how it has positioned the lab so far and how collaborative its team has been.”
“Only a handful of chiropractic students across the country have access to this innovative, in-demand new technology, and those schools that have Force Sensing Table Technology™ generally offer just one or two adjusting tables. However, our students work with multiple force-sensing tables housed in a fully interactive custom lab space – a one-of-a-kind learning environment, available only at Northeast College, “ noted Provost Dr. Anne Killen.
Northeast College of Health Sciences: Rooted in Tradition, Adjusting for the Future
For more than 100 years, the College has cemented its legacy as a leader in chiropractic education, providing new learning resources and superior hands-on education fueled by evidence and experience.
“At Northeast College, we are always focused on providing the best educational tools and technologies that help us create a superior learning experience for our students. We are proud to add revolutionary technologies that complement our long tradition of academic excellence. We continue to research the tools that will help us as we progress into a new era of health care,” said Northeast College President Dr. Michael Mestan.
As health care evolves and new technology emerges, Northeast College of Health Sciences remains committed to its evidence-informed philosophy, expanding its toolbox and hands-on opportunities only when it aids and advances the student learning experience. This commitment and the College’s dedication to reimagining healthcare provides students with the most comprehensive, evidence-informed chiropractic education in higher education.
Northeast College of Health Sciences in Seneca Falls, N.Y., is recognized as a leading institution for the education and training of healthcare professionals, and its graduate programs in areas such as chiropractic, nutrition, human anatomy and health sciences education are rooted in a commitment to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices.
