Upcoming workshop will broaden interprofessional experience for WSU Applebaum students

Wayne State University’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is one of only a handful of colleges nationwide that houses both the PharmD program and a variety of other professional programs in health care. With this unique infrastructure, WSU Applebaum has a built-in opportunity to train students in interprofessional practice, which is critical to patient safety and quality of care. 

Interprofessional education (IPE) teaches communication, collaboration and cooperation in patient care by bridging understanding of health professions among students across its programs. IPE has been integrated into curricula at WSU Applebaum for decades, and in 2019 a faculty taskforce was created to provide even more IPE opportunities for students beyond their required training.

One such opportunity will take place Jan. 26 and 28, 2021, when nearly 300 students from across WSU Applebaum will participate in a virtual workshop that has been deliberately designed to cover various IPE core competencies including roles and responsibilities, values and ethics, communication and cultural competence. The upcoming event builds on last year’s session to include three additional professions for a more comprehensive experience.

Programs represented are:

The new participants for 2021 – Clinical Laboratory Science, Radiologic Technology and Radiation Therapy Technology – are all undergraduate programs, giving bachelor’s degree students insight into not only how their professions will interact with others in the real world, but also into master’s and doctoral programs available at the college.

This year, the IPE workshop is built around a case of a patient presenting with a fracture, chronic pain, along with various other health and mental comorbid diseases. With guidance from a faculty facilitator, participants will work together in breakout groups comprised of students from all nine programs to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of the patient, providing students the opportunity to “be in each other's shoes” and experience the roles and responsibilities of each profession.

According to Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice Aline Saad, coordinator of interprofessional education and one of the event’s organizers, “Students will focus on developing a holistic patient care plan in a climate of mutual respect and shared values. They will critically reflect on their understanding of the social determinants of health, health equity and disparity in the provision of fair care for this patient.” 

The goal is to teach students how to collaborate across disciplines to provide a higher standard of care, an essential skill they will need as future practitioners – and the taskforce’s methodology has proven successful. Participants in the 2020 session reported that they learned about the full scope of each profession and how each would assess the patient in different ways, getting to know what other disciplines bring to the table in terms of patient care.

Current members of the WSU Applebaum Interprofessional Education Taskforce are:

  • Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Kim Banfill
  • Radiologic Technology Program Director Sarah Boland
  • Assistant Clinical Professor of Pathologists’ Assistant Sarah Draper
  • Radiation Therapy Technology Program Director Jeanetta Greer
  • Chair of Health Care Sciences Sara Maher
  • Assistant Clinical Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Jamie McQueen
  • Pathologists’ Assistant Program Director Veralucia Mendes-Kramer
  • Chair of Pharmacy Practice Lynette Moser
  • Assistant Clinical Professor of Physical Therapy Andrew Moul
  • Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice Aline Saad
  • Assistant Clinical Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science MaryAnne Stewart
  • Assistant Clinical Professor of Nurse Anesthesia Mary Walczyk

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