This Lightning Talk describes an exercise for 3rd-year medical students- adaptable to other health professions clinical placements – that fosters intentional interprofessional engagement for learners and prepares them for collaborative practice.
Objective: Great concern around the gap between IPE and IPCP experiences has been shared in the interprofessional community. Further, the LCME requires medical students to complete IPE/IPCP experiences with learning objectives and assessments prior to graduation. Increasing emphasis is being placed upon these activities occurring in clinical (as opposed to preclinical) learning environments. The purpose of this initiative was to provide a bridge between students' prior two-year longitudinal IPE training and IPCP opportunities during a Family Medicine clerkship rotation. The exercise was designed with intention to encourage medical students to develop collaborative relationships with healthcare team members during a required Family Medicine clerkship. Competency attainment was assessed through quantitative evaluation and self-reflection.
Methods: Prior to the clerkship, third-year medical students participated in an hour-and-a-half "Orientation to Team-Based Care in Family Medicine" session. The session included a review of the IPEC competencies and tools learned in their previous clinical simulations during IPE, an introduction of team members at each Family Medicine clinic by way of a Google Site, practice with pre-visit planning through a case-based exercise, and an introduction to the clerkship assignment. During the clerkship, third-year medical students were required to complete interprofessional activities (from a menu of options) in conjunction with interprofessional colleagues representing nursing, behavioral health, pharmacy, care management, and office staff members during care of mutual patients.
After completing these activities, students complete a reflection in which they self-report how they had accomplished specific interprofessional competencies (quantitative and qualitative); the healthcare team members with whom the students collaborated also complete a corresponding reflection (quantitative) of students’ interprofessional competence, based upon their interactions.
Results: Two classes of medical students (n ~156) have completed the assignment, and individual feedback has been provided to students.
Conclusions: Clerkship-based interprofessional collaborative practice initiatives, designed with intentionality, promote interprofessional engagement in clinical environments and can prepare medical students for achieving residency milestones related to interprofessional collaboration.
Exercises like this can keep educators true to our north star by bridging the gap between IPE in simulation and real clinical experiences, where team dynamics vary. Intentional team-based clinical assignments enhance opportunities for interprofessional collaboration and feedback.
