IPE Student Experiences

An Interprofessional Student Team Experience: One model

Some settings choose to bring a group of students together to form an interprofessional team that works collaboratively over a number of sessions. One model that has worked well in a variety of settings in Nova Scotia has included the following elements:

• Interprofessional student teams formed during periods of overlap in traditional uniprofessional student practicum/fieldwork placements (typically 4-5 weeks) in healthcare facilities or community agencies

• Usually 3 – 7 professions represented on each team, often from multiple educational institutions

• Student teams meet weekly with facilitators to discuss cases, healthcare delivery issues and programs

• Student teams complete care plans or projects

• Student teams may make a presentation to staff in the healthcare facility or community agency in which they demonstrate and discuss their experiences with interprofessional, collaborative patient/client/family-centred practice

• Providing opportunities for students to come together.

Examples:

• A large interprofessional team of students divided into two groups to conduct assessments and develop care plans for two patients on a stroke unit. They met weekly with facilitators to discuss their plans, compare the interprofessional care for these two different patients, and discuss the process of interprofessional, collaborative, patient-centred care.

• An interprofessional team of students attended weekly rounds on a stroke unit and met weekly with facilitators to develop a “stroke discharge report card” for use with current and future patients on the unit.

• An interprofessional team of students associated with the Oncology unit in a children’s hospital collaborated to develop a poster for parents which outlined the roles of the different health professionals with whom the children and families would interact on the unit.

• An interprofessional team of students attended weekly rounds, identified a case and then met with facilitators to collaboratively develop a care plan. They then presented the care plan to the unit team at the end of the week. The following week, they attended rounds again and developed a plan for a different patient.

• An interprofessional student team at a Long Term Care facility met to discuss assessment findings and propose recommendations for particular clients in the facility. The recommendations were presented to other learners and staff within the LTC facility.