1. Christine Chim, PharmD, BCACP
Pairing medical and pharmacy students to promote interprofessional collaboration in an urban academic setting
Sara Baird, MD
Christine Chim, PharmD, BCACP
Harlem Residency in Family Medicine, Institute for Family Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

2. Disclosures
The authors of this presentation have nothing to disclose

3. Learning objectives
On completion of this session, the participants should be able to:
Describe current perspectives of interprofessional education (IPE)
Discuss methods used in this project to promote interprofessional collaboration between medical and pharmacy students in the urban academic setting
Identify key features of an interprofessional education program and consider implementation of a similar program in their own training institution

4. Interprofessional Education (IPE)
Traditionally, minimal interaction between the various healthcare disciplines
Increasing priority in education
Outpatient practices/academic settings exhibiting multidisciplinary staff

5. Goal of the IPE program
To expose medical and pharmacy students to interprofessional collaboration in an urban outpatient clinical setting

6. Methodology of IPE program
Medical and pharmacy student pairs
On average, 2 half days during their 4-week long rotations
Preceptors: medical or pharmacy attending
Medical student: Medical history
Pharmacy student: Medication history
Case discussion
Preliminary assessment and plan
Teaching points

7. Assessment of IPE program
Reflections through informal questionnaire
Observation of student interactions
Written feedback
Pharmacy students:
Midpoint: “What have your observations been regarding interdisciplinary care? What has your experience been like working alongside a medical student and/or doctor?”
Final: “How can a pharmacist work together with other healthcare professionals to improve patient care? Explain any changes to your perspectives regarding interdisciplinary care.”

8. Assessment of IPE program (cont.)
Written feedback, cont:
Medical students
What was good about the experience? What do you think we should do differently?
Can you summarize in 1-2 sentences what you learned while working together?

9. Sampling of comments – Pharmacy students
“…a great experience, because we share knowledge that each of us would not have known.”
“My most favorite part is working with the medical students. I get to see a doctor learning how to practice and that helps me know what is going through their head…This also helps me expand my thinking about patients and see what changes I can make in my practice…the care the patients receive is well-rounded and complete.”
“Having a whole team for patients always provides better care for the patients and allows conversation amongst professionals”
“I saw how when we worked together and kept lines of communication open between all health care practitioners…we were able to address all the multifaceted problems the patient had.”

10. Sampling of comments – Pharmacy students (cont.)
“Our education background focuses on different aspects of patient care and we can only utilize that best by working together. [The medical student] has mentioned how different it was for him when he joined us for clinic duties and I notice the same...Because of that, we were both able to provide insights that could’ve easily been missed...I’ve found it very educational...”
“…a pharmacist and a physician sitting side-by-side assessing a patient’s case was truly amazing; the efficiency in providing care was enhanced dramatically in my eyes”
“…eye opening experience…allowed me to see how medical professionals work and led me to think as a pharmacy intern (potential future pharmacist) how can I coordinate with my pharmacy’s medical professionals to help my patients reach their medical goals…I never knew how important it was until now…we can share our knowledge and assist our patients to a healthier life.”

11. Sampling of comments – Medical students
“[I learned] the importance of the medication history & the different approaches/types of questions to ask to probe the patients on their medication compliance & understanding of why they were taking them. [And] how to provide health education on the importance & need for certain medications.”
“I learned about … thorough medication history (compliance, Rx literacy, etc.) that I would not normally have thought about or known how to take.”
“It helped me to understand the role that clinical pharmacists play in delivering health care. This is something I had not been exposed to before, so in that sense it really changed my perspective on the role of pharmacy in patient care.”
“Each student has such different skills and knowledge to offer”

12. Sampling of comments – Medical students
“I feel that the experience of working with clinical pharmacists really broadened my idea of the role that pharmacy plays in patient care and for that reason I believe this was a worthwhile experience.”
“Working with the pharmacy students broadened my perspective of the role of clinical pharmacists in patient care and taught me how to utilize another resource in order to help my patients in the future. Whereas I will not be an expert in pharmacy, working with people who are will benefit both my patients and myself.”
“It was good to get the perspectives of pharmacy students in seeing patients. [I] enjoyed interviewing a patient together and discussing the case afterwards.”
“[It was] fun to brainstorm together to select different pain management options for a complicated patient; engaging and likely helpful to the patient as well. … [We] developed a cross-talk between pharmacy student and highlighted potential for future partnerships”

13. Student-identified areas for improvement
Clarifying expectations of students:
“[I wanted] a bit more of defined roles/expectations in explaining how the collaboration should work”
Clarifying expectations of faculty preceptors:
Identify “good” patient candidates:
“A few of the patients we saw were clearly on top of their medications and it felt as though we were wasting their time”
Time spent with the pharmacy student:
Most students felt like two half days was just right
“My only suggestion would be to possibly increase the number of half days. The first two or three encounters are a little awkward and it takes time to figure out how to work well together”

14. Next steps Ongoing feedback from students and faculty
Pre- and post-surveys regarding knowledge and perceptions of IPE
Formalize the experience in the student curriculum and set clearer guidelines for both students and preceptors

15. Conclusion Program overall well-received
Students appreciated the experience
Patient care improved?
Ongoing adjustments to curriculum

16. Please evaluate this session at: stfm.org/sessionevaluation