Nursing was the first school that was assigned to host the IPE commons event. The initial step in the planning process was to meet with the two nursing representatives to determine their goals for the activity and brainstorm ideas. The group decided to adapt a case study (Terry Hillman) that was developed by Northeastern University for a project titled Innovations in Oral Health Technology, Instruction, Practice, and Service. We adapted the case study of Terry Hillman into a Standardized Patient (SP) encounter. The patient has a history of various medical conditions, dental problems, and social issues that provided enough content for all disciplines to actively participate in the simulation activity. The simulation team hired 3 SP’s trained that were trained by representatives from all the disciplines. A sign-up schedule was created to ensure each team had combination of participants from various professions.
The event started with an ice breaker where students from each discipline where placed in groups to discuss their commonalities and the biggest misconception people have about their profession. After the ice breaker, students worked as an interdisciplinary team to obtain a history from the patient: a 65 year old woman who recently fell at home resulting in a left arm fracture and is currently a patient at an in-patient rehabilitation center. She has a history of heart disease, osteoporosis, poor dentition, and macular degeneration which contributed to her recent injury. In addition to her medical conditions she has numerous social issues such as loss of independence and limited access to a primary care provider. The overall goal for the exercise was for the team to work together to obtain a history on the patient and develop a preliminary plan of care. Each group had 15 minutes to obtain a history and then 20 minutes to develop a plan of care for the patient. The last component of the IPE event was a group discussion about their experience of working together as a team including the positive aspects in addition to the challenges faced while working in their groups. The debriefing included a panel discussion from the SP’s where they provided feedback to the students. After the event was completed, dinner was provided to encouraging networking among the students. Post event evaluations found that 100% of students would recommend continued use of the interprofessional simulation activity.