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Students explore concepts of teamwork 

by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
For the second consecutive year, a contingent of MUSC students gathered for a day to explore the future of interprofessional teamwork in patient care.
 
Nearly 1,100 students, representing first and returning second-year students from each of the six colleges, met to learn more about one another’s professional roles, plus discuss the impact of  interprofessional understanding on enhancing patient safety through good communications. The Interprofessional Day program was introduced last January to all first-year students.
 
Interprofessional Day facilitators Dr. Deb Williamson and Jim Howell introduce the clinical case study activity with second-year students on Jan. 19.

This year’s event took place Jan. 19 on MUSC’s campus and featured the presence of a guest speaker, participation in small and large group discussions, review of a case study and post-test and evaluation. Participating students were excused from their program’s classes/activities to attend this required event.
 
“The day was devoted to enhancing interprofessional collaboration with the possibility of establishing a framework to improve quality in health care,” said Valerie West, Ed.D., associate provost for Education and Student Life, who led a seven-member committee charged with planning this year’s event.
    
The speaker was cardiothoracic surgeon Paul Uhlig, M.D.,  vice president for clinical quality and innovation at University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Uhlig is an authority on interprofes-sional collaboration, health care culture and care process innovation who is devoted to developing concepts aimed at improving patient safety and quality health care.
     “We’ve arrived at both a fascinating and frustrating time in health care,” Uhlig told both audiences at the Basic Science Building auditorium. “Today’s students are learning medicine under a dated paradigm that’s based in a modern era. We need to create a health care system that can continuously provide the best level of quality care for every patient.”
 
Uhlig outlined the growing challenges that affect health care today, which include cost, access, safety and quality and increasing unhappiness and dissatisfaction among health care practitioners today. 
 
That’s why Uhlig and other advocates for collaborative practice are challenging MUSC and other national medical and health care institutions to explore the concepts of teamwork and interdisciplinary cooperation among specialties as a way to enhance patient care. Uhlig told the audience that MUSC is on the leading edge of this important transition and was impressed with the concept of a campuswide Interprofessional Day.
 
Following morning and afternoon presentations, students divided into interdisciplinary groups of 15 to 20 students for breakout sessions. They were directed to more than 30 classrooms, meeting areas and conference rooms around campus. A faculty and student facilitator led the two-hour small group discussion and case analysis.
 
“The response of the students in the breakout sessions was very good,” said Don Miller, Ph.D., professor, Department of Pharmacology, Cell and Molecular Biology and faculty facilitator for first-year Interprofessional Day students. “We had a lot of discussion, with various people contributing. Some valuable points were made in a friendly and interactive atmosphere, and the students’ responses to each other were encouraging.”
 
Also new to this experience was the introduction of an expanded facilitator training program. Interprofessional Day committee members helped plan the three-hour training program that featured the expertise of Tom Kent, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, College of Charleston.
 
“The event planning was impressive,” Miller said. “Finding that many rooms for that many students and seeing to it that everyone arrived at the right place and time was no small feat. Faculty preparation was also helpful, especially to those unaccustomed to facilitating small groups. A single session, though, is not going to turn an ineffective person into an effective one; only experience will do that.”
 
West presented MUSC’s efforts and progress with interprofessional education at the National Conference of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals. She noted that MUSC’s efforts were the only example of campuswide interprofessional training compared to other programs. In addition, the concept of interprofessional training or the Creating Collaborative Care (C3) initiative was selected as the MUSC  Quality Enhancement Plan for the university’s reaccreditation with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
    
“MUSC’s faculty and staff are committed to preparing students for success in a dynamic health care environment,” West said. “Interprofessional Day is just a small part of a larger and exciting culture and approach to education that will be taking place at MUSC.”

What did you like about the Interprofessional Day experience?
Second-year students
  • The case study and discussions about the interventions of each professional group.
  • The speaker [Dr. Paul Uhlig] was excellent and quite motivating . His shared experiences about working with an interprofessional team helped increase understanding about how such systems can work.
  • It was a much-needed experience that promotes health care training.
First-year students
q  The keynote speaker was very effective in explaining the interprofessional approach to health care.
q  I liked the discussion groups and hearing opinions from other health care professions.

What suggestions do you have to improve the experience next year?
Second-year students
  • The small group discussions should be with various disciplines rather than our own.
  • It might be helpful to shadow someone from another profession for a day.
  • I think we should have group exercises that involve students portraying themselves from other disciplines and then discussion afterwards.
First-year students
  • I would suggest workshops as a brief introduction to other disciplines.
  • I believe it’s important to understand the constraints and intricacies of the environment in which a discipline works.
  • MUSC needs to offer interprofessional experiences more often. It could be incorporated into the curriculum and program design of all the healthcare professional programs.
Describe one thing that you learned today.
Second-year students
  • All health care providers should meet together to discuss a patient’s care.
  • The various opinions of interprofessionalism from the different professions.
  • How hard it is for people to accept change.

First-year students
  • The future of health care is at a critical point in its evolution and interprofessional teams are the wave of the future.
  • Communication is the key to quality health care.
  • We need to be open-minded if we plan on improving patient care.

C3 is essential for SACS Quality Enhancement Plan

by Amy Blue, Ph.D., associate dean for curriculum and evaluation, College of Medicine, SACS-MUSC Quality Enhancement Plan Committee
 
An essential requirement of the university’s SACS reaffirmation of accreditation is the development and implementation of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). This plan is a broad-based, universitywide, 10-year “course of action for institutional improvement crucial to enhancing educational quality that is directly related to student learning.”
    
It must be tied to the MUSC’s mission and focused on improving student learning outcomes. Recognizing the increasing complexity of the health care system and need to develop translational researchers, students, faculty, and administrators decided to focus the MUSC QEP on interprofessional education.
    
To be an effective health care professional or researcher, today’s graduates must be equipped not only with discipline specific knowledge and skill sets but must also be able to interact effectively with a variety of health care professionals. Working as part of an effective interprofessional health care delivery system or research team should begin with the education and training received while a student. “Creating Collaborative Care (C3)” is the focus and title of the MUSC QEP. C3 builds upon several existing interprofessional learning efforts at MUSC, such as Interprofessional Education Day. It will promote an institutional culture, learning environment and infrastructure that enhances our graduates’ abilities to participate as effective members of interprofessional collaborative health care delivery and/or research.
 
Four core activities will serve to guide and support the C3:  1) Curriculum Core, 2) Extra-curricular Core, 3) Teaching Scholars Academy C3 Core, and 4) Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety Core. These activities will be overseen by several committees involved in the development, integration, implementation, and evaluation of C3 activities across campus.
    
As students progress through their academic programs at MUSC, they will be expected to demonstrate teamwork skills, knowledge of other health professions with which they will regularly interact, and the ability to interact collaboratively in interpro-fessional health care delivery and/or research. C3 will enable graduates to excel in the technical aspects of their own discipline and excel in the collaborative interprofessional health care environment.
    
More information about C3 will be forthcoming as the institution prepares for its on-site SACS visit March 27-29.
   

Friday, Feb. 2, 2007
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.