Client/Patient Incorporates Interprofessional Student Care Plan Recommendations
Christina Sterman, who shared her diabetes diagnosis with CIPE Phase I learners this past fall, describes how she is incorporating their care plan suggestions. Christina was one of four community health workers who shared both their personal health stories and their professional roles on health care teams during CIPE’s Phase I curriculum.
Why did you want to participate in Phase I?
CHRISTINA: My community health worker course instructor asked if making a podcast about living with diabetes and sharing my experience with students on a panel with other professionals interested me. Even though I wasn’t sure what to expect, the sessions turned out to be an amazing experience as I got to spend time with students. I also felt delighted to share my feedback not only as a professional but also as a client/patient.
What have you been able to implement from the students’ suggestions?
CHRISTINA: Since my last session with students, I have been consistently logging sugar levels at home. I was also inspired by students’ feedback to reach out to a yoga studio. I am optimistic that I will make time for yoga moving forward, because yoga and meditation are self-care practices that I really enjoy. Also, I started my meal prep journey with the right amount of nutrients that my body desires during the week. Regarding social relationships, I am making a greater effort to stay connected with my daughter and friends. Even though I am being treated and controlled for diabetes, it has been hard to re-visit my physician due to my busy schedule. The only feedback from students that I haven’t been able to address in my life is getting my A1c level drawn again now that I have comprehensive insurance coverage.
What positive feedback did you get from the sessions?
CHRISTINA: My experience with students during the sessions was very positive. I was amazed by how attentive students were and how supported they made me feel. I was so glad that I participated in the sessions and got to know students who cared for me so much.
What would you want others to know?
CHRISTINA: My advice to individuals with a medical condition is to seek help and ask any professionals with knowledge for information. My diagnosis — we weren’t looking for it. I want people to know, it is a scary diagnosis and living with diabetes and controlling it isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Even on a limited income, there are ways to control it by changing lifestyle, adding some exercise and medication, if indicated. It gets much easier because once you start down that path and if you are serious about your health, it becomes your new normal, as I put in my podcast too. Click HERE to listen to it.
Elina Kaviani, CIPE Pharmacy APPE Rotation Intern
Community Partner Spotlight: Rejuvenating Comprehensive Services (RCS)
Over the past several years, the CIPE has developed a mutually rewarding partnership with Rejuvenating Comprehensive Services (RCS), a community organization that offers individual, family, and group therapy to clients/patients in the St. Louis area. RCS also hosts educational workshops and connects client/patients to resources to manage everyday pressures more effectively and improve their overall well-being. Past CIPE Master of Public Health (MPH) interns have collaborated with interprofessional teams of students to facilitate educational sessions on diabetes and hypertension.
According to RCS director, Keely Finney, clients/patients look forward to these sessions, and appreciate the opportunity to learn new recipes and ask questions about their health. Due to the overwhelming positive feedback from the sessions on diabetes and hypertension, RCS added the educational session on cholesterol and cholesterol management.
In November, current CIPE MPH intern, Kate Gershwin, collaborated with student nurse, Jovan Romero, and student physical therapist, Lauren Froehlich, to put together a presentation and cholesterol-friendly recipe to present to RCS clients/patients. The presentation included a brief overview of cholesterol and a discussion of lifestyle factors that contribute to high cholesterol, including poor diet. The presentation continued with tips for lowering cholesterol with diet (add fiber, limit saturated and trans-fat, eat balanced meals, and eat mindfully), a list of affordable food options nearby, and tips and tricks for making diet changes. Attendees also received a handout with more specific diet “do’s and don’ts,” as well as recipe ideas and links to further resources. The presentation ended with a cooking demonstration and tasting of cholesterol-friendly French toast, which was made with whole grain bread, egg whites, unsweetened almond milk, and olive oil nonstick spray.
Overall, the workshop on cholesterol was a fantastic experience. Attendees asked great questions throughout the presentation and expressed excitement about incorporating the various diet changes into their lives. Stay tuned for our next education session on chronic pain in Summer 2024.
Kate Gershwin, CIPE MPH Intern
MIE Interview with Beth Crowner
Dr. Beth Crowner, Professor of Physical Therapy and Neurology at Washington University, embraces her role on clinical interprofessional teams and reinforces the concept in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum. In her classes, she brings interprofessional panels of health professionals to introduce the diverse roles and responsibilities within the health care field. Actively involved in creating cases, tests, and assessments, Dr. Crowner prompts learners to recognize the collaborative nature of health care teams.
Fundamental to Dr. Crowner’s clinical practice and teaching are her beliefs that cultivating collegial relationships, equalizing the importance of all roles on a team and developing shared goals aimed at improving patient outcomes and experiences are key to interprofessional teamwork. The pursuit of the Master Interprofessional Educator (MIE) certificate, anticipated for completion in May 2024, is driven by the desire to demonstrate a commitment to advancing student knowledge and fostering personal growth.
Dr. Crowner encourages students to learn about, from, and with students from other professions as she believes IPE plays a crucial role in developing skills toward interprofessional collaboration in practice: “Early engagement in IPE sets the foundation for understanding roles and emphasizing a cultural perspective over a hierarchical approach. Regular opportunities for structured and unstructured engagement contribute to a more inclusive and collaborative health care community.”
Students are encouraged to choose clinical internship opportunities or opportunities for community engagement and outreach that involve teamwork. Dr. Crowner addresses erroneous beliefs or misconceptions about skills, education, training, and knowledge. In the context of physical therapy, she says other health care professionals need to understand that DPT roles involve rehabilitation and the recovery of individuals across all ages and conditions, optimizing movement and function throughout the continuum of care.
Dr. Crowner views every interaction as an opportunity for learning, whether with clients/patients or other team members. She believes that the unique composition of the academic institutions involved in CIPE facilitates collaboration through interprofessional education and practice, allowing her to achieve daily learning through others regardless of their experience level.
Youngsun Lee, CIPE Pharmacy APPE Rotation Intern
Interested in becoming a Master Interprofessional Educator? Click here to learn more!
Curriculum Update for January 2024 Newsletter
CIPE Curriculum is moving from a three-phase longitudinal model to a Menu of Activities model, allowing each health profession program in the collaboration to better create a longitudinal IPE pathway for each of their students. As such, the CIPE Steering Committee streamlined the Curriculum Guiding Principles which was subsequently unanimously endorsed by the CIPE Curriculum and Assessment (CAC). CAC representatives met during the Fall of 2023 to first prioritize which of the revised Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies they wanted CIPE assistance with meeting. The next step was to determine which of the existing CIPE activities met those competencies and in which programs wanted their students to participate. It was discussed that many existing activities were of value to two or more programs, and with revision and reorganization of timing could be more effective. The result is a complex matrix of nine activities that CAC will vet and update in smaller working groups this Spring toward implementation in academic year 2024-2025.
Activities moving forward with smaller subsets of professions needing to be coordinated include:
- the longer-standing Standardized Patient Team Experience, case studies run by the Health Profession Student Leadership Council and Hotspotting activities;
- newer and to-be-developed ethics case discussions and patient safety reassessment rounds;
- individual components of the previous CIPE Phase I three-session series including roles and responsibilities presentations, a faculty-modeled mock team meeting, collaborative communication exercises, and a client/patient presentation and case.
CAC workgroups are mindful of the feedback from students and facilitators from past activities and aim to ensure all going forward are interactive, shorter in length, better applicable to each profession and learner level and better timed within each program (i.e., time of day and in relation to other content/exams).
Amy Tiemeier, PharmD & Alison Stevens, PharmD
CIPE Curriculum & Assessment Committee Co-Chairs