Adventist University's Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students are getting a once-in-a-lifetime experience: the opportunity to study at the Nicholson Center, Florida Hospital Celebration's world-renowned robotic and surgical training facility.

Next to a room of accomplished doctors refining their skills on da Vincis, the most advanced robotic surgery platforms to-date, Adventist University students are mastering their own skills, identifying and understanding muscles and nerves in the human body.

"This has been absolutely unreal," says Chris Roche, MOT student. "It's definitely one of the top few experiences of my educational career."

Video cameras and lights give students front-row seats as Kelly Moore, adjunct biology professor, leads them through a dissection of the human body. Though the experience made some students queasy at first—one nearly passed out on day one—the insights they're gaining are invaluable.

"It gives you a new respect for the human body and how complex it is," says Ashley Walch, MOT student. "You would never know otherwise all the things that are under your skin."

Of equal importance, MOT students are learning to become better healthcare providers. "This has helped me make the connection between information and real life," Roche says. "I'll never forget the stuff I see here versus what I see in color-coded anatomy books."

The 28-member-class is the first group of graduate students to undergo training at the Nicholson Center.

"They're getting a great opportunity," says Gabriel Zavula, lab technician at the center, "one that pre-med students don't usually get until their senior year."

—Rainey Park