In its 15th year, program aims to teach integrated patient care
URI students from the College of Pharmacy joined those from nursing, physical therapy and social work students in multidisciplinary teams, working together on a variety of patient-focused healthcare simulations during an interprofessional education collaboration at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University April 27.
Students worked in teams to assess the condition of hypothetical patients — played by local actors — who are suffering from opioid use disorder resulting from pain medication prescribed after back surgery. Each team — consisting of a student physican, pharmacist, physical therapist, social worker and two nurses from URI, Rhode Island College and Brown — met with the patient for a physical exam and consultation. The team then worked together to develop a comprehensive treatment plan covering all disciplines that they then presented to the “patient.”
“While the students are brought together to develop optimal patient care plans, the true objective of the educational activity is for these students to learn about, from, and with one another, in order to bring truly integrated patient care to their future practices,” said Pharmacy Clinical Professor Celia MacDonnell, who is the College’s director of interprofessional education and lead of the project.
The URI College of Pharmacy began the interprofessional education collaboration with the College of Nursing in 2005, bringing students together in an interactive team-based laboratory module. Two years later, the College of Pharmacy continued to grow its partnerships, working with the Office of Medical Education at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University. They met to discuss how the school could work together, to provide new collaborative educational opportunities for students studying in health care programs in the state.
The result was the first public/private interprofessional education initiative in the country. The partnership has continued to strengthen since that first meeting, and the program has continued to expand through its 15 years. Originally held in a dining hall on the Pembroke Campus at Brown University, the event now runs through the entire Alpert Medical School building in Providence and includes nearly 450 health professions students throughout Rhode Island.
