This purpose-built space supports the Graduate School of Health's interprofessional approach to preparing the next generation of allied health care professionals.
Inside One Hundred Broadway
A desk with a view over Broadway and the UTS campus, within the new UTS Graduate School of Health
With large windows opening out to the UTS campus and the greater Sydney area, the Graduate School of Health's home in the CBD reveals an expansive view of Sydney’s southern edge. But it’s what’s happening inside that matters most.
The interior design of the building’s custom fit-out acknowledges the traditional owners, the Gadigal people, and their use of the land, including a woven pattern honouring the production of tools and crafts traditionally on this land.
The Graduate School of Health reception includes elements of the woven motif design that acknowledges traditional owners
A holistic approach leads to better quality patient care, particularly for patients whose health issues are multiple and complex, and also people with disability who also need to access multiple health professionals across their lifetimes.
Collaborative learning
Spread over six levels of the One Hundred Broadway building, the Graduate School of Health includes architect-designed spaces for teaching, research, and work-integrated learning, all designed to enhance collaboration across the disciplines.
“One of the present anomalies in allied health professional education, is that when we go out to practice, from day one we work closely with a group of medical, nursing and other health colleagues. Too often, the training we do to prepare for this career is siloed within our own discipline,” explains UTS Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Toby Newton-John.
“At UTS, we’re breaking down the barriers between disciplines, and giving our student clinicians exposure to a diverse range of allied health professional disciplines and ways of working. When they go to work on their first day as a graduate, they'll have an in-depth understanding not only about how other allied health professionals work, but also how they approach problems. This will make working together collaboratively so much easier, for improved patient outcomes.”
One of the collaborative pod classrooms in the new Graduate School of Health
A new home
Since it was established in 2011, the Graduate School of Health has outgrown two former homes on the UTS City campus. In 2019, the School made its new home at One Hundred Broadway, offering innovative, practice-based education and high-impact research across seven disciplines.
“UTS is the only Australian institution offering the unique combination of Master’s degrees in pharmacy, clinical psychology, orthoptics, physiotherapy, genetic counselling, speech pathology and good manufacturing practice, with Indigenous Graduate Attributes being embedded across all disciplines,” says Head of School Professor Joanne Gray. “What really sets us apart in the sector is our interprofessional approach to teaching and learning, and our leading edge in tech-based solutions to learning and teaching in clinical areas.”
Cutting-edge facilities
One Hundred Broadway boasts user-centred and vibrant physical spaces that enhance opportunities for students to interact and engage actively in hands-on classes. Breakout spaces and communal kitchens are set up to spark those all-important conversations that bring new connections and ideas into our work.
More than 300 students across seven disciplines call One Hundred Broadway home, with access to a range of unique specialist facilities.
The pharmacy simulation dispensary provides a space for students to role play and practice patient counselling skills.
Orthoptics students learn in simulated clinics complete with advanced orthoptics equipment, to prepare them for using diagnostic equipment in the workplace.
In the plinth room, physiotherapy students learn practical skills in clinical simulation classes, diagnosing and treating a variety of conditions/injuries.
Public-facing clinics for Clinical Psychology and Speech Pathology provide students with real-world experience of assessing and treating clients of all ages.
“As the spaces have been purpose-built, every discipline was able to identify what specific teaching space they needed in order to be able to prepare their students the best way they possibly can,” says Professor Gray.
Research spaces are also designed to be collaborative and future-focused, and a suite of research facilities are enabling researchers to work on joint projects. In the high-tech Virtual Reality Lab, researchers are exploring how virtual technologies can be used to improve everyday life for people with a wide range of health conditions or disabilities, or for educational purposes.
The Virtual Reality Lab in the Graduate School of Health
“Like UTS more broadly, the Graduate School of Health is focussed on impact and connection,” explains Professor Gray.
“One Hundred Broadway is reflective of current best practice in allied health to impact positively on the lives of people of all ages. It brings together diverse disciplines in a truly collaborative way, which helps to tackle complex health problems faced by individuals or particular communities, and improve the way people can participate and be included in all aspects of society.”
Video: Take a tour of One Hundred Broadway with Physiotherapy student Adam
Hi, I’m Adam – Master of Physiotherapy student at the Graduate School of Health. Today, I’ll be take you on the virtual tour of the Graduate School of Health’s new home – One Hundred Broadway.
One Hundred Broadway has been purposefully designed to accommodate learning spaces for specific teaching needs.
The building is unique, as it brings all of the disciplines, including Clinical Psychology, Genetic Counselling, Orthoptics, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology, under one roof to create an incredibly collaborative space. We are the only students who use this building which creates a great community of postgraduate allied health professionals in training.
As you make your way through the building, you’ll notice a woven motif throughout. This is in acknowledgment of the local Indigenous Gadigal people, who were traditionally basket weavers. UTS stands on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and we consulted with our Indigenous community for these design features.
Technology was an important factor for the Graduate School of Health during the design process. To facilitate this need, the School has installed a program called B-Line which allows students to collaborate, record and review patient interactions. There are B-Line cameras in every simulation space that streams to pod classrooms in real time.
Let’s go check out some of the spaces.
Our tour begins on the level five pod classroom. Pod classrooms are available on level five, nine and 10. They have been designed as an open and interactive space to allow collaboration and group work. Within the pod classroom on level five is the Simulated Pharmacy Dispensary which gives Pharmacy students a space to role play, and practice patient counselling skills.
Let’s move to level six.
On level six, is the Postgraduate Student Lounge. This is an open area where you can have your lunch, there’s a fully functional kitchen with a fridge and a dishwasher. You can also come here to socialise, or study.
Right next to the Postgraduate Student Lounge is a Physiotherapy Plinth Room. This room is connected to the simulation space which provides real-life clinical settings for students to practice.
Level seven is next, follow me.
On level seven, you’ll find the teaching clinic. The teaching clinic is a student-led one, where they can put into practice, what they’ve learnt in class.
This reception area is the first point of contact for visitors. Clinical Psychology was the first discipline to move here at One Hundred Broadway after establishing a successful clinic in 2015. Speech Pathology was the next discipline to follow suit, establishing their clinic here in 2019.
Technology in healthcare is growing, including the use of telehealth. Currently, Clinical Psychology and Speech Pathology are already using this technology, to gain valuable skills which they’ll use in practice in future.
The space is purposely built to accommodate all of our disciplines, with plans to expand services in the future.
Right next to the teaching clinic, is the is the Indigenous health community room. This is a multi-purpose room, in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members can access if they are using the clinic.
The space can also be used for activities like cultural awareness training and is available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community services to use as a meeting room, connecting them to UTS
Now on to level eight, let’s go.
Level eight houses the Virtual Reality room. This room is specially designed with state-of-the-art technology to research how virtual technologies can be used to treat different health conditions.
The technology is mostly accessed by Speech Pathologists, but increasingly is being used across all of our disciplines, in order to develop new ideas and educational experiences.
Next is the observation room. This room is quite unique. It has two cameras on either wall, to observe all activities that occur in this room. The space is currently used to facilitate direct coaching, where our clinical psychologists can communicate with parents in the room, through a headset.
Researchers and Higher Degree Research students across all disciplines intend to use the observation room for upcoming research projects.
Just around the corner here, we have a new suite of research rooms. The research conducted here will allow researchers to work together on collaborative and interprofessional projects.
In the Orthoptic Teaching Clinic on level eight and nine, students have access to essential orthoptic equipment, and the latest technology. The Orthoptic Teaching Clinic rooms have been designed for students to learn orthoptic clinical skills in small groups, and simulate a clinical environment.
Let’s take the stairs to level 10.
We’re going to finish our tour on level 10, in the Zoom Room, where academics from all disciplines can conduct their classes online. This room is especially used by Genetic Counselling, as the program is online. You will see Genetic Counselling students using the pod classrooms, and the clinic for simulation, a couple of times a year when they are on campus.
Thank you for joining me on this tour. I hope to see you at One Hundred Broadway very soon.
