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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
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