We will use a service-oriented non-clinical educational initiative to illustrate methods for developing interprofessional competencies and building a multi-institutional, community-based interprofessional program.

The Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program (BTG CHIP) gives interprofessional teams of health and social service students hands-on community-based experiences that are complemented by a didactic core. The program is a multi-institutional effort of eight academic health institution-based programs that work with over 100 community organizations serving disadvantaged populations. A collaborative administrative model provides the foundation for student training. BTG CHIP is built on cooperative interaction between academic health institutions, among health and social service disciplines, and between academic health institutions and their local communities.

Learning Objectives: Participants in this workshop will:

1. Gain concrete strategies for overcoming administrative and curricular barriers to multi-institutional interprofessional training;

2. Learn methods for incorporating collaborative community service into interprofessional training.

Background: The need to expand geriatric education for health professionals at all levels of training has been well described (1). Geriatric clinical skills fairs are a fun, interactive way for student learners to gain practical, evidence-based skills and knowledge pertaining to the care of older adults and provide an ideal opportunity to introduce interprofessional education for health professions students.

Description of Intervention or Program: This “train the trainer” workshop will introduce faculty to developing and implementing an interprofessional geriatric clinical skills fair at their own institution. Workshop participants will engage in six interactive stations addressing cognitive assessment, gait evaluation, older patient simulation, medication management, code status conversation, and disposition discussion. Each station will run for 10 minutes and will include time for debriefing to review and discuss learning objectives and teaching methods. The six stations will be led by experienced interprofessional faculty facilitators, including a geriatrician, palliative care specialist, clinical pharmacist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist. After completing the simulated “fair” portion of the workshop, faculty participants will be introduced to a method for evaluating the effectiveness of a clinical skills fair and will have the opportunity to share teaching strategies and ideas for successful implementation.

Results: Interactive “train the trainer” programs are an effective method for faculty development and can assist in the wide dissemination of innovations in education to prevent “reinventing the wheel.” By engaging in a simulated geriatric clinical skills fair and debriefing with interprofessional faculty, participants will be able to implement and measure a similar skills fair at their own institutions.

Conclusion/Relevance to interprofessional education: Based on our own experience, Interprofessional Geriatric Clinical Skills Fairs are highly rated by learners at various levels of training from multiple professions. These fairs can serve as a fun and effective method for providing education addressing geriatric competencies and should be implemented at more institutions as a way to introduce interprofessional education.

Reference:

InstituteofMedicineof the National Academies. Retooling for an AgingAmerica: Building the Health Care Workforce.Washington,DC: The National Academies Press; 2008.

Learning Objectives: By participating in this interactive “train the trainer” workshop, participants will:

1. Practice teaching skills related to Interprofessional Education and geriatric competencies

2. Formulate an Action Plan and prepare to introduce an Interprofessional Geriatric Clinical Skills Fair at their own institutions

3. Review measurement strategies and choose one method to measure the effectiveness of an Interprofessional Geriatric Clinical Skills Fair

Background: Evidence suggests that collaborative care is facilitated by clear communication and that interprofessional education (IPE) requires a conceptual framework that overrides individual disciplines. The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a framework for understanding an individual’s health as multidimensional while also providing a unifying language for health professionals.

Relevance to interprofessional education or practice: In the Jefferson Health Mentors Program (HMP), students from 6 different professions participate in a two year team-based program working with a volunteer Health Mentor, a person with one or more chronic conditions or disabilities. The goal of the HMP is to teach students collaborating in interprofessional teams to value patient-centered care in the setting of chronic disease. ICF concepts are introduced into the HMP at orientation, allowing for early introduction of the multilayered view of the biopsychosocial model of care in health professions training. However, introducing a language that is unfamiliar to many of the professions involved is challenging and requires providing students with a strong foundation in ICF terminology, reinforcement of key terms throughout the two year program, and ongoing faculty development.

Workshop outline/timeframe of presentation: In this seminar, we will introduce participants to the ICF terminology and framework, showcase sample student teams’ application of ICF concepts, discuss faculty development and reveal lessons learned. The introduction and explanation of terms and concepts of ICF will be based on a case. Examples of integration will include modules from the Health Mentor Program, including interprofessional health/life history, formulation of a wellness plan, home safety visit, and approaching the health mentor with concepts of life change.

Learning Objectives: Participants in this seminar will be able to:

1. Define key WHO-ICF concepts, including disability, impairments, participation and activity

2. Provide 2 examples of how to use WHO-ICF concepts to improve the care of people with chronic conditions

3. Develop an action plan to integrate WHO-ICF language into IPE curricula

To answer this call, a group of educators from Belmont University School of Pharmacy, Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy, Mid Tennessee Collaborative Master of Social Work Program at Tennessee State University Department of Social Work, andVanderbiltUniversitySchoolsof Medicine and Nursing designed an innovative program for incoming students. From the very start of their respective curricula, students contribute to the care of patients in meaningful ways by working in interprofessional clinical teams. The program is called the Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Learning (VPIL).

Given the complex and fast paced setting of health care, it is not easy to have incoming students join a clinical practice, yet VPIL has succeeded with such integration. The working learning teams consist of attending providers, medical post-graduate trainees, and students from medical, nursing, pharmacy, and social work schools. The program has established interprofessional competencies for students to obtain in the clinical practice working teams, roles for students in the care of individual patients and populations, and several innovative technology tools to facilitate achievement of individual and team goals.

This workshop focuses on how to incorporate a group of early students from a variety of fields onto a clinical team. We will explore how the program allows students to work together in ways that foster student growth and patient care, while not being too taxing on the physician leaders of the teams. Workshop participants will 1) reflect on their own established or planned programs to use working learning teams, 2) explore barriers and solutions to creating these clinical teams, 3) interact with students and attendings who have overcome common obstacles in working together for individual patients and a panel of patients, and 4) develop action plans to establish/augment similar programs at one’s institution.

Learning Objectives:

1. Share competencies for interprofessional students to master in the clinical setting.

2. Identify barriers and solutions to having interprofessional students practice on a team together in the clinic setting.

3. Learn various strategies for incorporating technology for supporting working learning teams in clinical practice.

4. Develop an action plan for expanding interprofessional student training in clinical practice at one’s institution.