Special Topics—Interprofessional Education Gives WSU Health Professions Students a New Perspective
from "Special TopicsInterprofessional Education" course in a simulation activity
with a high-fidelity manikin (SimMan) in a hospital setting.
This past fall semester, the 2-credit course Secial Topics - lnterprofessional Education, was offered to Wayne State University health professions students for the second time since it was initially offered as a pilot course in Fall 2021. The 2-credit team-taught hybrid course is designed for health professions students to learn about how each discipline contributes to the healthcare team and the role of team collaboration in preparing health care professionals for collaborative practice.
Dr. Dennis Tsilimingras, course director and Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences, reflected on the years of preparation in developing the course. "This course has come a long way since interprofessional faculty from the WSU School of Medicine, College of Nursing, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and School of Social Work met as members of a curriculum committee to create and design the course for 3-years prior to offering the course," said Dr. Tsilimingras.
The course consists of online modules, small group discussions and interactive learning assignments, virtual meetings, team-based debriefing and case-based learning. Topics covered included the importance of effective communication, crucial conversations and conflict resolution in team settings. The final class featured an in-person hospital transition of care simulation that gave students a chance to experience working as a team in an interprofessional environment.
WSU Pharmacy student Narges Gol found the course to be "a great class with great professors and a unique experience." "It was an amazing experience that has not been offered to us in any other courses," added Gol. "We got to know what other majors' responsibilities are and had the opportunity to communicate, conduct projects and think critically all together from many different perspectives but with the same goal of improving patients' outcomes."
The IPE course was offered to students from WSU College of Nursing, the WSU Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the WSU School of Medicine and the WSU School of Social Work. Future plans for the course include using student feedback to improve the course, opening the course to other disciplines and introducing expanded topics such as motivational interviewing, behavioral health integration and other current and emerging health issues.