Interprofessional teamwork is critical for providing high-quality patient care as well as ensuring proper handoffs between team members, which helps prevent in-hospital or post-hospital injuries. To help develop these skills as early as possible, Feinberg recently hosted an interactive training session for more than 250 students in the MD, Physician Assistant and Physical Therapy programs.
The learning initiative aimed to bring students from across disciplines together to strengthen their communication and teamwork skills, better understand the skillsets of each profession, and practice solving realistic health problems in a team-based setting.
“Effective interprofessional collaboration is essential for high-quality healthcare and one of the best ways to foster connections is to facilitate interprofessional education,” said Allison Kessler, ’12 MD, MSc, ’13, ’16 GME, assistant professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and faculty leader of the session.
During the session, students worked in groups on a case study of an elderly patient who was admitted to the emergency room due to injuries from falling at home.
Together, the students formulated possible diagnoses for the cause of the patient’s fall based on the information presented, discussed the roles of each provider involved in the patient’s care journey, and potential therapeutic interventions.
“This activity is one example of an opportunity for Northwestern post-graduate healthcare students to come together to learn from and with one another in an interactive format,” Kessler said.
Additional faculty leaders who assisted with the session included Joshua Hauser, MD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine and of Medical Education; William Healey, PT, EdD, chair and Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences; Bruce Henschen, ’12 MD, ’12 MPH, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Medical Education; Sara Bradley, MD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Medical Education; Marissa Liveris, ’13 MMS, PA-C, instructor of Medical Education in the Physician Assistant Program; Elana A Min, PhD, PA-C, associate professor of Medical Education in the Physician Assistant Program; Elizabeth Holland, PT, DPT, instructor of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences; and Cori Ann Arquines, assistant professor of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences.
