The Dip: Orchestrating a Clinical Immersion Experience in Interprofessional Education

Research Question: Do health professions students who participate in an interprofessional education experience report improved teamwork skills

A Partnership Model of Clinical Interprofessional Education

Purpose and Background: The University wanted to enhance students’ uniprofessional education by providing an interprofessional experience in a gerontology context in collaboration with a clinical education partner. The project goals were to improve students’ teamwork skills, improve the vitality of their elder teacher, and create a model of interprofessional education for undergraduate and graduate students which would also benefit the clinical partner. Description of Intervention or program: Over three semesters, 44 students formed interprofessional teams of 4-5 students and worked with an elder teacher (resident) of the facility to learn with, from, and about each other. The student teams were supported by clinical mentors and faculty mentors. The students experienced a two-week didactic course focusing on teamwork followed by 14 weeks of clinical immersion in a long-term care setting. Evaluation included tools found in the literature (RIPLS and IEPS) and an assessment developed by the planning team. Additionally, student assignments, meeting summaries, and observer field notes were analyzed. This workshop will include a discussion of the interests and needs of the university and the clinical partner. Results: Students improved the vitality of their elder teachers. Additionally, they reported learning about other professions, practiced client-centered interventions, and became more holistic in their thinking. The partner has requested to have students on site all year round, not only in the spring semester. Conclusion: The project was beneficial to both partner organizations and for all participants. The project will be expanded next academic year to impact more students and elder teachers. Relevance to interprofessional education and practice: This project immerses students on interprofessional teams. It involves the facility staff in supporting the teams and this encourages team–based practice in this setting. Everyone works and everyone learns (Vanderbilt model). Seminar outline/timeframe of presentation and interactive discussion: 5 Min: Introduction and background 15 Min: Description of the collaboration project and how the voices of the clinical partner. Introduce activity: How do you develop a mutually beneficial immersion experience. 15 min: The teams will identify the interests of the university and the community partner. What are the gives and gets of each? We will assign different participant small groups to be either a university or a community partner. 15 min: After they identify their interests, have two groups get together and see if and how well their interests align. 10 min: Large group debriefing, sharing learnings, and next steps Two to three measurable learning objectives relevant to the conference goals: 1. Recognize opportunities/apply strategies to engage patients as partners in developing new models of interprofessional education and care 2. Describe a strategy that engages the clinical partner in the planning and engages the residents as elder teachers in implementation of an interprofessional immersion experience for undergraduate and graduate healthcare students. 3. Design innovative interprofessional curriculum, collaborative practice and quality improvement initiatives with attention to actualizing academic and clinical partnerships. 4. Identify the interests of both the university and the clinical partner in order to design a mutually beneficial IPE immersion experience

Framing the Value of Clinical and Field Education

Community/university partnerships play a critical role in higher education. Community-based research, service learning, guest lectures, internships, and a host of other activities illustrate the shared opportunities for students, educators, practitioners, employers, and consumers, as communities and institutions collaborate to educate the future workforce and develop an informed and engaged citizenry. Across the spectrum of health and professional disciplines, real world learning through community-based clinical/field education1 is essential to prepare practice-ready graduates. At St. Catherine University, for example, students complete over 7,000 clinical/field placements annually across multiple degrees and disciplines (see Appendix B). Without community/ university partnerships, our universities would not be able to provide high quality learning experiences and educate graduates who are both qualified and competitive in the workforce. Yet the long-standing model of clinical/field education is faced with pressures and competing demands. While universities strive to increase enrollment and meet rising competition and changing accreditation standards, providers face industry and regulatory reform, economic downturns, reduced funding and reimbursement, productivity demands, a retiring workforce, and a host of other pressures. This paper is intended to strengthen community/university partnerships by articulating the value that can come from clinical/field education. The authors of this paper serve as clinical/field educators for the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health at St. Catherine University and the School of Social Work at St. Catherine University - University of St. Thomas. We draw from our own experience, conversations with clinical and fieldwork partners, faculty and students, and existing literature to outline this complex issue. The goal of this paper is to provide information, a conceptual framework, and language that can inform stakeholders and foster dialogue as we work collaboratively to address the opportunities and challenges of workforce development