City South Campus

Our City South Campus houses up-to-date, innovative facilities that simulate the real situations medical staff may come across. These resources give students a valuable hands-on introduction to health and social care practice.

Take a virtual tour of our skills suites at Seacole

In a sector where new techniques are constantly being discovered, we work hard to ensure that students learn using the most up-to-date equipment available. These include the only mock operating theatre in an English university, a cutting-edge radiography virtual clinical training facility, and a virtual ward and virtual case creator. Our City South Campus also has a virtual radiotherapy suite, as well as a simulated home environment for visual rehabilitation students to learn how to help those with limited or complete loss of sight. There is also a specialist resource room for Speech and Language Therapy students, fitted with a two-way mirror to allow them to review and develop effective communication skills.

Seacole extension

The creation of our new suite of courses in sport and life sciences is one of the most exciting developments at Birmingham City University in recent years.

The £41 million expansion of the University’s City South Campus in Edgbaston has provided specialist laboratories and teaching spaces for the new courses. It also provides a new home for the School of Education, supporting the development of the next generation of school teachers.

Hospital ward

Our mock wards enable you to get a feel of what a ward is really like before you head out for your first placement. They contain 'SIM men', which are demonstration dummies that develop ailments, allowing you to treat them as you would a real patient and build your confidence in reacting to the changing needs of patients.

The hospital ward can be adapted from a low care to high dependency care environment with the necessary monitoring equipment.

Part of the package is our SIM baby, SIM man and Mega code kid. There are also nursing manikins for fundamental skills teaching and various equipment to support essential skills teaching, such as blood pressure monitoring venepuncture and cannulation equipment.

Birthing room

The birthing room is kitted out as if in a real maternity ward. There is a bed and all of the essential equipment associated with babies, pregnancy and mothers to ensure safe pre-natal and post-natal care.

You will be able to use these facilities to understand the health situations associated with pregnancy and the care of the baby and mother after birth.

Simulation mannequins

We have several simulation men (SIM men) and simulation babies (SIM babies) which are leading edge, anatomically correct mannequins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills.

The SIM men and SIM baby mannequins are complete with software, which is used to replicate real symptoms, and are enhanced by the manipulation of for example blood pressure, pulse and heart rate for extra realism. SIM men can also 'talk' to the students which adds another dimension to their use in teaching clinical skills and in simulation exercises.

Operating theatre

Operating Theatre The mock operating theatre is set up in the way that you would it find in a hospital, with all of the necessary machinery, tools and equipment.

Operating theatres can be daunting and confusing places on first view but with access to our mock theatre, you will be able to build up confidence and feel comfortable in your working environment.

Laboratories

Our laboratory facilities help you explore and understand the scientific principles underpinning many of our courses. The Physiology Laboratory is equipped to help you learn about the way the human body works by performing investigative experiments. The Biomedical Science Laboratory will allow you to learn about anatomy, cellular processes, immunology and enzymology in a hands-on way that links directly to day-to-day health care.

As a part of our £41 million expansion (new for 2018), we will have a Human Physiology and Performance Lab fully equipped with

  • Lode cycle ergometers
  • Monark cycle ergometers
  • Woodway treadmills
  • Cortex on-line gas analyser
  • Bioelectrical impedance analysers for body composition analysis
  • Anthropometrical equipment
  • Altitude Chamber

In addition, we have a Biomechanics Lab fitted with Qualisys motion capture and Kistler force plates and Isokinetic dynamometer and a Sport Research Lab with Alter G Anti-gravity Treadmill and DEXA (DXA) scanner.

Sports Facilities

Our sports courses are also taught at our state-of-the-art City South Campus.

The campus features; two sports therapy teaching rooms, sports injury and a rehabilitation clinic, three court court sports hall, an altitude chamber, sports fitness and rehabilitation suite with Technogym equipment, woodway treadmills and lode cycle ergometers.

Mary Seacole library

Mary Seacole Library The Seacole library, based at City South Campus, is one of the UK's largest specialist health education libraries. The state-of-the art facility offers an extensive range of range of information and reference materials set out in a relaxing environment, conducive to studying.

There are comfortable seating areas, group study areas, a silent study area and private study rooms.

Computer Facilities

The Seacole building houses a large open access IT Suite which comprises of 96 PCs, full colour printers, photocopiers and scanners. Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:

  • Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
  • Ability to save files to USB, DVD and CD
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Research and statistical software
  • Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home.

Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.

The IT Suite offers extended opening hours and is supported by a specialist Open Access Assistant during term time. In addition to the open access PCs within the IT Suite, there are 12 networked student PCs available within Seacole library.