After a two-year phase of work, the University President, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, donors, and members of the council of Al-Aqsa University, guests from Palestinian universities and the Palestinian MOH gathered on Feb. 02 at the Faculty of Medical Sciences building in the university campus in Khan Younis for a ribbon-cutting celebration to mark the opening of new nursing simulation lab which was donated by Human Appeal UK, and the Molecular Genetics lab which was donated by  Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and implemented by Gulf Educational Organization in Gaza.

The guests enjoyed getting an inside view of the state-of-the-art facility that is being used for training classes, clinical and simulation instruction.

The students, lab specialists, and nursing faculty staff were delighted to show guests around the 300-square-foot learning environment, which features nursing-skills, health-assessment, and simulation laboratories.  

Prof. Ayman Sobh, president of the university, welcomed the guests and thanked the donors for their generous support making the university’s vision of producing a forward-thinking medicine college a reality. "were extremely gratified to see the wonderful equipment that our students will now have at their disposal to maximize their learning opportunities and simulate real-life medical situations.” He stated.

Form his side, Mansour Yazji Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, was thrilled that the two facilities now service of more than 1000 students and 50 academic staff “The learning environments were designed to support more interactive, collaborative, comfortable and active engagement equipped with furniture and interactive digital boards and simulation instruments to provide new ways of learning.”

Among the presence was Nabil El Aila PhD. in Molecular Biology, and Dean of International relations, who said "Al-Aqsa University was excited about the partnership between Human Appeal and Gulf Educational Organization” and looked forward to the great continued relationship between the organizations. "our modern, purpose-built, biomedical sciences laboratories feature a range of the latest scientific testing equipment, walk-in cold rooms, and specialist data. While students and staff enjoy the benefit of these new labs, the current labs are going through 200.000 US $ refurbishment to ensure staff and students have access to world-leading facilities.

The simulation laboratory is equipped with high-fidelity manikins and emergency equipment and supplies for students to focus on quality, safety, team-based skills, evidence-based practice, leadership and delegation. Control devices inside the simulation lab will house the computer operator and equipment, which includes the capability to video record and review the simulations.

Dr. Radwan Abu Rukba, Head of Nursing Department at Al-Aqsa University found the simulation lab to be “exceptional” and he said it is crucial to learning since it gives nursing students practical experience so they are “not fearful and have confidence” when they go out into a health care setting. Having the simulation background will “enable our students to transition from students to staff expeditiously.” he said.

The nursing main skills laboratory provides 8 beds stations outfitted with authentic equipment and supplies that simulate acute hospital and long-term care settings and give students the opportunity to work in small groups.

The new facilities were made possible through the generosity of two organizations Human Appeal UK. and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) which deserved all respects for their support and efforts as they were honored during the event by the University President, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.