The healthcare environment is increasingly complex with higher in-patient acuities and reduced length of stay. The continuum of care extends beyond the hospital environment and requires coordination of services and effective communication between multiple disciplines. Each discipline has strategic interventions for patient goals, yet without effective interdisciplinary communication there are often gaps in care. The interprofessional educational model allows students from various disciplines to engage in a common experience in a controlled setting. The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience (ISPE) is designed to incorporate physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical, pharmacy, social work and nursing students.
This ISPE incorporates the four IPEC Core Competencies of Value and Ethics, Roles and Responsibilities, Interprofessional Communication and Teams/ Teamwork.

The learners gather as a team and hear the “chief complaint”, or one sentence summary of why the patient is seeking care today. Each discipline has five to six minutes to individually interview the patient while the others are observing. The preceptor monitors the time and flow of each health care team member participant. Each case is designed with unique embedded challenges such as language barriers, underlying issues of depression/suicide ideation or domestic abuse. After each student has had a chance to interview the client, the team gathers to discuss how the collective disciplines can provide comprehensive care to improve client health outcomes. The debriefing session proves to be a rich and valuable opportunity for each student to articulate their unique expertise as well as appreciate the roles of their colleagues.

The purpose is to observe students from various disciplines demonstrating patient interviewing, identifying the similarities and differences in our professional roles, nurturing interprofessional interaction and fostering respectful appreciation within the context of a common patient experience. The experience is based on research indicating that patient outcomes are enhanced when disciplines understand one another’s role, educational background, and professional values. There is no physical assessment other than general survey. The focus is on gathering information from the client based on therapeutic communication and motivational interviewing skills. A summary of pre- and post-session student surveys reveal the evidence to support the value of interprofessional education.

The purpose of this workshop is to share the successes and challenges of creating and sustaining the ISPE model, involving six disciplines from two separate campuses, for 16 years. The workshop will provide practical facilitator resources, a debriefing guide, plus demonstration of a sample case.

Learning Objectives:

During this workshop, learners will:

• Participate in a live ISPE by conducting an interview representing a variety of health care disciplines
• Engage in a structured debriefing process using evidence-based practices to develop an inter-professional plan of care
• Understand the roles, responsibilities and expertise of various health care disciplines to enhance daily patient care practices

Learning strategies:

• Participation in an actual standardized patient case study
• Debriefing of the experience using evidence-based practices