IPE experiences

Interprofessional Team Visit (IPTV) program

The Interprofessional Team Visit (IPTV) program, a collaboration between WSU's medicine, pharmacy, nursing, social work, physical therapy, occupational therapy and physician assistant programs and University of Detroit Mercy's dental students, serves 450 older adults in the Detroit area annually. Students learn how to assess an older adult's health and social needs and to participate in an interdisciplinary team environment, utilizing a holistic patient care method that highlights the unique skills brought by each participating health professional.

'In Our Shoes' annual workshop

Each January, WSU Applebaum hosts the "In Our Shoes" interactive workshop, bringing together hundreds of students from across the college to evaluate a case study deliberately designed to cover various IPE core competencies such as roles and responsibilities, values and ethics, communication and cultural competence. 

With guidance from a faculty facilitator, participants work together in breakout groups comprised of students from all participating 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.

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. Reflections from participants appear below.

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Student responses

Erin Elshaer '24, Nurse Anesthesia

The IPE experience really enriched my experience as a Nurse Anesthesia student. In health care, teamwork is a vital and key component for the safety and well-being of patients. The IPE experience really made me realize how much professions are dependent on one another. I really appreciated the breakout rooms and case study for each program to really collaborate and discuss their input for the case. The IPE experience was an outstanding example of showcasing each profession and their role in caring for a patient in every aspect.

David Truong '24, Nurse Anesthesia

The IPE event was an enriching experience that not only helped to reinforce that I have a strong understanding of my own profession's core competencies but also helped build my awareness of the responsibilities and focus of other health care professions. In particular, I found that the case study promoted an inclusive and safe environment where we were able to engage with each other and share our concerns and actions that we considered critical for the patient's care. I found this to be a critical turning point during the IPE event because it allowed us to recognize the strengths and limitations of our own profession and realize that we need to rely on and advocate for each other during the patient care process in order to provide high quality and comprehensive health care. Accordingly, this event helped to foster the belief that the promotion of interprofessional awareness and collaboration is not only vital for optimizing patient care but for also creating an inclusive environment where all roles are respected, and their input is valued. All in all, the IPE event was an invaluable and unique learning experience!

Narges K. Gol '24, Doctor of Pharmacy

Serving on the IPE committee was such a great honor and privilege for me. Participating in a variety of meetings with committee chairs and members representing several professions taught me to have a broad view of all different majors and to come up with activities to engage all to improve interprofessional education and collaboration. It was indeed a challenging but very rewarding experience that helps me build a strong future career with an interprofessional vision in mind.

Linh Pham '24, Doctor of Pharmacy

Throughout my time in pharmacy school, I have had numerous opportunities to participate in IPE events that have increased my knowledge and appreciation of other health professions. Specifically, in January 2023, I participated in the IPE "In Our Shoes" event, where I was able to work with other various health professions at EACPHS that I have never encountered before, such as clinical lab sciences and nurse anesthesia. We were able to share our perspectives of our professions while working on a patient case together. From this experience, I learned how impactful it is to collaborate with other health professions to ultimately improve the overall health and well-being of a patient. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with other students as it will prepare me for the future to be able to communicate and collaborate with other health professionals.

Nadeen Abdallah '25, Doctor of Pharmacy

IPTV has allowed me to work with other health care professional students and I've been able to see their perspectives on caring for patients. It's always interesting to see their first go-to response or reaction to a case and compare it to how pharmacy has trained me.

DEW Clinic allows me to strengthen my patient care lab skills in real-world settings. I also get to see how important it is to understand the "whole" version of a person. For example, their blood glucose isn't well controlled, but we can't jump to non-adherence. We have to see if maybe it's the person's home environment, depression, external factors, etc. affecting their levels.

Warda Saleh '23, Occupational Therapy

Participating in the IPE was an incredible experience for me, as it provided me with valuable insights into how various health care professions approach the same patient. Through this experience, I gained an appreciation for the unique contributions each profession brings to the table in improving patient health outcomes. I was particularly impressed by the way the advisor directed each profession to speak only when the health issue was within their scope of practice, which taught me the importance of active listening and clear, respectful communication. This experience also prepared me to be more aware and understanding of my group members and the patient during the IPTV.

Conor McKelvey '23, Occupational Therapy

The IPTV events have been beneficial to my education because they have provided me with the opportunity to not only learn about other professions, but also interact as part of an interprofessional team to help treat a patient. As occupational therapy students, we have the opportunity to participate in this event twice, and I think this positively impacted me because I was more confident in my skills the second time, and I was able to better showcase the role of an occupational therapist as part of the team. These events will help me in my future career in two ways. The first way is that it provided me with experience working and gathering information on a patient, and it improved my ability to communicate with a patient in that initial meeting. The second way that it will impact my future career is that it exposed me to how a number of medical professionals can come together as a team for treatment. It helped me better understand the roles of each profession as well as where occupational therapy fits into that treatment process.

Kelly Clarkston '23, Occupational Therapy

I had a good experience at the IPE event. I felt that it was very organized from start to finish which helped us students gain a lot of knowledge about other disciplines. I enjoyed that this IPE event had many disciplines to learn from. I believe what I learned will help me be a better OT because I will understand how to communicate effectively and understand the roles of various professions. More importantly, it will allow for better health outcomes for patients the more us students are able to collaborate on appropriate interventions. The more practice and knowledge we can obtain, the better we will be in our field of study. 

Monisha Sanders '23, Radiation Therapy Technology

The IPE event was a great experience. All the different disciplines of WSU Applebaum came together to share about their professions. I had heard of all the programs at the college but was not extremely familiar with the unique roles they played in patient care and IPE helped illustrate that.

My perspective did change as I was better able to understand the crucial parts each profession plays. The case study we worked on helped highlight how connected each profession is in the patient care process and how important having knowledge and effective communication across specialties is. We were able to share what we do as professionals and collaborate to identify the most effective treatment methods.

IPE has taught me that there will be times when we must work alongside other health care professions, and knowing more about each other's roles will help aid us in providing quality collaborative health care.

Silvia Karana, Radiologic Technology

My classmates and I took part in the IPE "In Our Shoes" event this past January. There were more than 100 participants from WSU Applebaum and all majors scheduled to graduate in May 2023. For the IPE session, we were broken into small groups and a student representative from each department offered their personal perspectives on a case scenario. A discussion that stuck out to me from the event was, "What attitudes in health care might discourage a patient from seeking care?" There are a number of hurdles related to stigma and bias that have prevented patients from receiving the medical care they so desperately need. It's our goal as health care professionals to modify patients' perceptions and encourage them to receive proper health care before severe problems occur. During our case study scenario, each department made effective use of communication, teamwork, and patient care techniques. The IPE event altered my viewpoint on other medical personnel; we all need to collaborate to provide every patient that enters the hospital with comfort and care to break free from the stigma and bias that result from poor collaboration. Overall, the experience helped me gain more understanding of how various departments would approach patients and provide comfort care. In order to more effectively help and care for my patients as a future radiologic technologist, I will carry the knowledge and uphold these skills the event reinforced within me.

Lauren Miller, Radiologic Technology

I participated in the "In your shoes" IPE event and I found it to be beneficial. Before the event, I didn't realize how much each department relies on other areas in order to do their job. I feel like we often get so focused on our own work, that we don't think about the other departments that the patient will see. The IPE event made it evident that teamwork is crucial in all health care settings. Not only in the hospital, but even after the patient has been discharged and continues on with outpatient follow-up care. The health care system is only successful if it operates like a well-oiled machine. We see that if one part isn't working or is falling behind, patient care can suffer. It is important to consistently do our jobs to the best of our ability so that other departments are able to do their jobs proficiently. The IPE event made me aware and thankful for how hard the other departments work so that I am able to do my job efficiently and provide the best patient care possible.