Patient-centered simulation: Practicing interprofessional teamwork with standardized patients

ABSTRACT

The simulation environment provides opportunities for students to practice interprofessional skills in an authentic, yet safe setting. We discuss an interprofessional learning activity called Team Care Planning designed to teach interprofessional teamwork using a simulated discharge meeting involving an elderly female patient who had a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) and her adult daughter, played by standardized patients Interprofessional teams of health professions students work together to discuss the discharge plan and meet with the patient/family. Teamwork is evaluated using the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide®, completed by the students, faculty observers, and standardized patients. Students also report their perception of knowledge and skills gained from the interprofessional activity in an electronic evaluation. Analysis of the data indicates the initial goals of the program are being met. Students report greater understanding of roles/responsibilities of team members; and students, faculty, and standardized patients rate the experience high in terms of the quality of the teamwork. Debriefing with faculty observers promotes student reflection on performance. Receiving feedback from the standardized patients informs student personal and professional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• simulation
• teamwork
• communication
• collaboration

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Pamela Gassman for her assistance in preparing this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

E. Adel Herge

E. Adel Herge, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA is Professor, Director of the BSMS OT Program and Program Coordinator for the BS OTD program in the Department of Occuational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University. She also holds a faculty appointment in the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education where she is the faculty lead for Team Care Planning. Dr. Herge was one of the orginal creators of this program which began in 2009 and has undergone quality improvement to reflect best practice in interprofessional education.

Richard W. Hass

Richard W. Hass, PhD is Director of Assessment, Evaluation, and Research for the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (JCIPE) at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His research interests include behavioral research design and measurement, teamwork and problem solving, and applied cognitive science. In addition to his administrative role at JCIPE, he is Program Director for the Population Health Science PhD program in the Jefferson College of Population Health. He teaches intermediate statistics and advanced methods in survey development and validation.