HEALTH EDUCATION
The future of healthcare delivery is interprofessional, team-based, personalized, accessible and continuing to rapidly evolve. These shifts have opened the door for transformation across the academic health sciences, emphasizing the need for much stronger connections between education, care delivery and research. The ways in which graduates of nursing, medicine, dentistry, public health, pharmacy and other allied health professions programs will care for patients will require new competencies including empathy, agility, entrepreneurship and systems-based thinking.
Our team prioritizes understanding these drivers through active research with our Client Advisory Boards. These engagements enable us to translate the latest thinking from health care into future-focused environments for learning, preparing these future practitioners for the real world. Technology is a key ingredient that is shaping medical and health education environments with virtual and immersive technologies enabling students to learn in entirely new ways. Changing demographics of faculty, students and patients is also challenging us to think about space differently, prioritizing personalized learning styles, advanced technologies, interdisciplinary collaboration, inclusivity and continuing education.
PROJECTS
Health and Life Sciences Building, Anne Arundel Community College
AACC brings together top-tier laboratories and collaborative learning environments in this comprehensive home for the health and life sciences, preparing its students for success with sought-after 21st-century skills.
OUR TEAM
LEADERSHIP
Chris Purdy, Vice President, Director of Higher Education
As Director of SmithGroup’s Higher Education market, Chris has provided leadership for more than 25 health education projects nationally. Recognizing the need for strong connectivity between educational settings and rapidly evolving forms of healthcare delivery, Chris also leads the firm’s thought leadership initiatives on design for interprofessional education and collaborative practice. This work includes several successful collaborations with the National Center for Interprofessional Education and practice (NEXUS).
Stephanie Sweet, Principal, Dental Education Strategist
Inspired by a lifelong love of building and design, Stephanie brings empathy, creativity, and thoughtful problem solving to her work. Her focus centers on identifying unique client challenges and delivering innovative, functional solutions. She strives to create environments that serve many purposes at once, such as supporting care providers, healing patients, and educating students. Shaped by firsthand experiences as both a patient and a caregiver, she brings a deep sensitivity to healthcare and higher education projects, where trust and transparency are essential.
Terin Barrios, Principal, Health Education Design Strategist
Grounded in empathy and driven by a fervent passion for discovery, Terin consistently transforms our clients’ most significant challenges into innovative, holistic solutions. An architect and design strategist, he brings over a decade of experience in project planning and design with an emphasis on medical and health science education.
Health EDUCATION Team
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The Future of Dental Education Is Digital by Design
The future of dental education belongs to those who embrace technology as a catalyst for progress, shaping a generation of clinicians equipped to deliver smarter, faster and more sustainable care in a fully digital world. The physical environment is a significant contributor to the successful integration of digital dentistry, and the design process is a unique opportunity to explore the potential of the latest technology and calibrate its approach to align with its mission. The degree in which an institution invests in digital design is no longer a competitive advantage, it is a necessity to meet the expectations of patients, and to prepare students for a wide range of care delivery settings once they graduate.
Our portfolio spans a wide range of health education clients including medical schools, nursing schools, dental schools and supports all health professions from master planning to the design of a wide range of spaces for simulation, team-based classrooms, informal learning and community outreach.
Contact Us
Chris Purdy
Vice President, Director of Higher Education
(313) 442-8315
chris.purdy [at] smithgroup.com