The best way to experience the Samford spirit is to meet our people and walk our campus. While you might not be able to visit campus in person, we want to give you an idea of what to expect when you are able to visit. To get started, choose a tour stop from the map or the menu below.
The School of Health Professions includes a vast array of specialties and fields of study that make up a significant portion of health-related careers. The school offers baccalaureate, master and doctoral programs in four departments: Communication Sciences and Disorders, Kinesiology, Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies. In 2016, the School of Health Professions moved into the College of Health Sciences facilities located on the east side of campus. These facilities are also home to Samford’s other health-related schools: McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Ida Moffett School of Nursing and School of Public Health. Together, they provide students and faculty with the opportunity to learn and work in an interprofessional environment that mirrors today’s team-based approach to health care delivery.
Learn more about our College of Health Sciences facilities.
Our lobby greets students and visitors alike. With its wall of windows, the beauty of the outdoors is brought in, a common theme throughout our facilities. At the entrance of the lobby is our chapel. This is a quiet space open to all students and faculty, providing a unique place to pray, read the Bible and find spiritual rest and solitude. Off the lobby, you can access the Enrollment Management and Student Services Suite. Here you will find the admission, recruitment and advising offices for all four schools, including the office of Rebecca Vanhook, director of graduate admission and student services.
The College of Health Sciences facilities provide numerous classrooms of varying sizes. All classrooms are equipped with Solstice, a wireless presentation and collaboration software. Users are able to project their devices to the screen in the classroom for group work or presentations. Our facilities also include two lecture halls, which provide ideal space for interprofessional gatherings, guest speakers and more. Due to its larger size, there are multiple display monitors throughout the room, allowing students to clearly see the speaker’s presentation.
Whether you need a place to take a break between classes or a gathering space for group meetings or studying sessions, the College of Health Sciences has numerous patios, study spaces and common areas throughout its facilities. In addition, students can take advantage of our walking trails, open seating areas and group study areas. All of our conference rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art conferencing technology that allow students and faculty to conduct face-to-face and distance meetings and presentations.
Located on the third floor of Building One, Samford’s Experiential Learning and Simulation Center spans 22,000 square feet and utilizes the most sophisticated technology available to provide students a safe yet realistic environment to develop their clinical skills. The center even includes an electronic health record system that mirrors the systems found in today’s health care settings. Health Professions students use a number of spaces found within the center to gain experience in direct patient care.
Learn more about our Experiential Learning and Simulation Center.In our standardized patient exam suite, which consists of 10 individual rooms, students are able to practice patient counseling skills with our standardized patients, or professionals trained to act out symptoms and reactions.
This suite includes four high-fidelity simulation labs that contain high-fidelity mannikins, which display life-like qualities such as blinking and respiration chest movements. Students use this space to gain experience in direct patient care—whether through interactions with different mannikins, including adult, pediatric and obstetric, or standardized patients acting as family members. Each simulation lab is paired with a debriefing room where faculty and students gather following a simulation to discuss and provide feedback.
In the operating room, located within our high-fidelity simulation suite, physician assistant studies students work with a Human Patient Simulation that not only displays life-like qualities such as blinking and respiration chest movements but also exceptional lung mechanics such as gas exchange, pharmacological response and the ability to interface with patient monitors.
Located within the simulation center, our 1,100-square-foot home care unit looks and feels like a real studio apartment. The apartment allows students to practice in-home patient care and skills specific to the community setting.
This lab provides a space for teaching as well as faculty and student research related to the physiological responses to exercise. Top of the line equipment allows for the assessment of metabolism at rest and during exercise, fuel usage during exercise, and musculoskeletal performance.
The Physical Therapy Clinical Lab includes 25 treatment tables with eight of these being mechanical high low tables that are used for training students for exercise and mobilization techniques. In this teaching lab, faculty demonstrate specific examination and treatment techniques. Innovative technology allows lectures and demonstrations to be projected onto flat screen televisions in the demonstration area and archived for future use.
Utilizing examination and taping stations, isokinetic testing, and balance assessments, School of Health Professions students gain experience in the prevention, recognition and treatment of injuries in the Sports Medicine Lab. Modalities for injury treatment include neuromuscular electrical stimulation, ultrasound and hydrotherapy. In addition, students and faculty conduct research in this multipurpose space.
This lab is used to teach students the necessary history and physical skills it takes to be a successful physician assistant. The students develop proficiency at physical examination skills including HEENT exam, heart and lung sounds, abdominal exam, peripheral vascular exam, neurological exam, etc. This provides the essential foundation to prepare students for clinical practice.
Using the most advanced technology, students in the School of Health Professions' Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders learn to evaluate patients exhibiting voice and/or swallowing problems.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders students learn the process of hearing assessment using the most current, technologically advanced equipment. Students have access to state-of-the-art hearing booths, a hearing aid lab and electrophysiology lab.
In the Human Performance Lab students and faculty in the School of Health Professions assess cardiorespiratory, body composition and musculoskeletal performance. Utilizing state-of the art equipment and facilities, faculty and students perform comprehensive tests aimed at assisting clients in becoming healthier adults or improved athletes. The Human Performance Lab is also the home for the SamFit Community Testing Program.
Our Atrium is a beautiful focal point within the College of Health Sciences. Students use this space to enjoy lunch, study or simply hang out with friends. Along with the waterfall and numerous outdoor patio spaces, the Atrium also offers Freshens and Starbucks. Freshens’ menu offers healthy meal options, including various wraps, salads and rice bowls.