Teaching Note—An Interprofessional Book Club: Bringing Together Social Work and Health Affairs Students

ABSTRACT

The demands for interprofessional education (IPE) are becoming increasingly more explicit among health professions accreditation standards as well as within social work education. The following teaching note describes an interprofessional book discussion related to Paul Kalanithi’s 2016 book, When Breath Becomes Air. The book explores the end of life experience of a young neurosurgical resident unexpectedly diagnosed with terminal cancer. This content allows students to reflect on their mortality while pursuing their educational goals while also addressing clinical concepts related to team-based care, coordination, and personal, familial, and system perspectives of a major health diagnosis. The book is rich with examples for students to engage in interprofessional discussions salient to social work and across disciplines. The following teaching note includes a detailed description for programs wanting to engage in new or increased IPE efforts at their institution. The rationale for why this book was selected, as well as questions to guide discussion, and related social work competencies are included. Further, lessons learned throughout the planning and implementation process, as well as guidance on how this activity could be replicated or adapted for social work and other programs are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa de Saxe Zerden

Lisa de Saxe Zerden is with the School of Social Work University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Margaret (Meg) Zomorodi

Margaret (Meg) Zomorodi is with the School of Nursing and the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jen Haley

Jen Haley is with the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rebecca McCall

Rebecca McCall is with the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Beth Moreton

Beth Moreton is with the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lee Richardson

Lee Richardson is with the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.