New Directors for Upcoming Health Science Training Facility

The soon to open Kansas Health Science Center – Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KHSC-KansasCOM) has named Megan Bayer, MSN, RN, IBCLC, CHSE, as director of simulation and associate professor, and Saajan Bhakta, Ph.D., as director of clinical health outcomes research and associate professor.

Bayer is a registered nurse, an international board-certified lactation consultant and a certified healthcare simulation educator who has participated in high fidelity simulations with students from nursing, pharmacy, and medical schools as well as in the hospital setting. She most recently served as director of simulation education at WSU Tech while also working as a contract nurse in the Covid unit at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis.

Dr. Bhakta previously served as adjunct professor of psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology where he taught and supervised students working on global psychological research in countries like Peru and Ethiopia. He is also the director of wellness and transitions at People, Pets & Vets where he works as a consultant who oversees mental health and well-being programming for more than 75 hospitals across the U.S.

With the goal of opening for the 2022 academic year, the proposed KHSC-KansasCOM is currently working through the accreditation process. The school is currently under construction, remodeling 116,000 square feet of the historic building, to include new technology and learning spaces, an osteopathic skills training center, standardized patient teaching rooms, large lecture halls, small group study rooms, a virtual anatomy lab, and much more.