URI pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy students get interprofessional experience at Brown medical school

December 3, 2025
URI College of Pharmacy student Shakir Pike joins URI nursing and physical therapy students, along with a medical student from Brown University in assessing a patient case during an Interprofessional Education Program at Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School.
URI College of Pharmacy student Shakir Pike joins URI nursing and physical therapy students, along with a medical student from Brown University in assessing a patient case during an Interprofessional Education Program at Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School.

Local colleges and universities collaborate on RI Interprofessional Education Day

University of Rhode Island students from the colleges of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences joined medical and social work students from other local institutions in multidisciplinary teams during Rhode Island Interprofessional Education Day at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, where they worked together on a variety of patient-focused healthcare simulations.

Students worked in teams to assess the condition of hypothetical patients—played by local actors. Each team—consisting of a student pharmacist, nurse, physical therapist, physician, and social worker from URI, Rhode Island College, Providence College, and Brown—met with a rotation of patients for physical exams and consultations. Teams then developed comprehensive treatment plans covering all disciplines that they then presented to the “patients” and faculty evaluators from all participating schools.

URI College of Pharmacy Professor Joe Nardolillo oversees a group discussion of a health care scenario during an Interprofessional Education Program at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School.

The program enabled students from multiple disciplines to learn with and from one another, building the foundation for more connected, compassionate, and effective patient care,” according to a program description. Workshops focused on important topics in medicine, such as access to care and the social determinants of health, with an additional emphasis on learning interprofessional skills and building the teamwork, communication, and empathy that define the future of health care.

URI College of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Joseph Nardolillo led the students in a series of group discussions focused on approaches to care. Nardolillo presented specific patient scenarios for which the students from each discipline discussed strategies of treatment.

“Our lesson plan has adapted each semester to continue to align with pressing topics in healthcare and the feedback provided by our students,” Nardolillo said. “This year, students participated in facilitated discussions and activities to better understand how their profession and curricula shape their perspectives and viewpoints in patient care. Students then participated in a mock complex care meeting in which they acted as a real-world primary care team while addressing the challenges of communication, time management, and some of the long-established perceptions and power dynamics that influence team-based care.”

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 Brown. They met to discuss how the schools 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 strengthened since that first meeting, and the program has continued to expand through its 20 years. Originally held in a dining hall on the Pembroke Campus at Brown University, the event now runs through the entire medical school building in Providence and includes nearly 500 health professions students from throughout Rhode Island.

“As one of the largest education events in the state, IPE Day trains hundreds of healthcare professionals each year who will provide patient care to Rhode Islanders and beyond,” Nardolillo said. “By ensuring our students are not only able to simply learn about other professions, but are able to practice working together with hands-on activities, we can ensure these future healthcare professionals are knowledgeable of the skills and training of their fellow colleagues, and are well-prepared to collaborate as they enter the workforce.”