Roanoke Campus
The Department of Nurse Anesthesia extended its graduate program in 2009 to the residents of Roanoke, Virginia and the surrounding area in partnership with Carilion Clinic. The Department provides its full curriculum through distance technologies including two-way video conferencing, desk-top sharing, web-casting and web-based tools; as well as, through face-to-face instruction. Both the MSNA and DNAP programs are accessible on this campus. Carilion Clinic is a local healthcare organization that provides health services for residents of Western Virginia.
Carilion Clinic Riverside Building 3, Roanoke Campus Classroom
Didactic Curriculum
All didactic hours of the current MSNA and
DNAP program are delivered via two-way synchronous
telecommunications technology to the Roanoke Campus Classroom located in the Carilion Clinic Riverside 3 Building.
Thus, students in Roanoke take classes simultaneously with the Richmond campus students as well as with the
Abingdon Campus students. Our didactic curriculum is presented via video conferencing technology enhanced with desk
top sharing. This allows students and faculty in Roanoke to see, and speak with the students and faculty at other
campuses live. A Web-Casting feature allows all lectures to be archived thus enabling students both remote and
local to review them at a later time from any location with internet access.
Faculty routinely travel to Roanoke, Virginia to deliver lectures, and meet with students as well as to visit clinical affiliates. Additionally, there are dedicated clinical and teaching faculty in the region.
Roanoke Campus Faculty
The Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University has appointed faculty who live in the region to
include:
Roanoke Campus Manager
Maria Hirsch, MS, DNAP, CRNA, Clinical Assistant Professor, VCU, Department of Nurse Anesthesia
Director of Anesthesia Services for Carilion Clinic, Manager, Carilion Professional Services
mthirsch@carilionclinic.org
Clinical Coordinator, Roanoke Campus
Scott Hawkes, MSN, CRNA, Clinical Instructor, VCU, Department of Nurse Anesthesia
sjhawkes@carilioncinic.org
Education Coordinator, Roanoke Campus
Lois Stewart, MSNA, CRNA, Clinical Instructor, VCU, Department of Nurse Anesthesia
lestewart@carilionclinic.org
Sonya Ranson, PhD.
Director, Center for Experiential Learning, Carilion Clinic Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Adjunct Associate Professor, VCU, Department of Nurse Anesthesia
Associate Professor, Virginia tech Carilion School of Medicine
Laboratory Experiences
The Carilion
Clinic Center for Experiential Learning provides basic and advanced simulated laboratory experiences
for the Roanoke Campus Students. The Center houses state-of-the art equipment to include a full body, high-fidelity
human simulator, an anesthesia machine, ultrasound training equipment, vascular access training devices and various
anatomical models.
Roanoke Campus Clinical Hospital Affiliations
To provide a broad array of clinical experiences, the department has established clinical site placements in the
Roanoke Virginia region that range from a Level I trauma center to a small rural 25 bed hospital. Clinical
affiliates include: Bedford Memorial Hospital, Blue Ridge Surgery Center, Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital,
Carilion Giles Memorial Hospital, Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital,
and the Salem VA Medical Center.
