Medical and pharmacy student outcomes from an interprofessional education transitions of care simulation

Abstract

Interprofessional education is a requirement for both medical and pharmacy graduate program accreditation and it prepares students to work as high functioning healthcare teams. Since patients with chronic diseases often require care from various providers across multiple healthcare settings, efficient care coordination directly correlates with improved clinical outcomes and cost savings based on prudent use of resources. This curricular resource describes outcomes from an interprofessional transitions of care simulation completed by third year medical (MD) and pharmacy (PharmD) students at the University of South Florida in 2021 and 2022. We evaluate changes in students' perceptions about working with interprofessional teams and changes in their clinical knowledge following the simulation. This simulation presented students with one of two clinical vignettes (a pediatric asthma exacerbation or an acute chest syndrome sickle cell crisis), and students progressed through patient management in the emergency room, intensive care unit, medical floor, and discharge planning. This activity was conducted via Microsoft Teams in 2021 secondary to the coronavirus pandemic, and implementation continued to be on Microsoft Teams thereafter due to its success. Student outcomes were measured with matched pre- and post-simulation surveys including nine questions regarding perceptions and knowledge. In total, 300 medical students and 261 pharmacy students participated in the surveys. Students showed statistically significant improvement in each domain, including perceived understanding of roles and abilities to work in an interprofessional environment. Cohorts benefited to similar extents both years, and interprofessional and clinical knowledge improved for both medical and pharmacy students, although not equally. This experience provides an interactive, efficient, and effective method to fulfill accreditation requirements while improving students’ perceptions of healthcare teams and their ability to clinically manage a patient. The evaluation methods used in this study are available in Tables 1–3 The clinical vignettes, preparation materials, standardized patient scripts, and faculty evaluation form to guide feedback can be found in a Box Drive link provided in section eight.