Interprofessional Education

Student Experience Timeline

Tier Key:

• Tier 1 Foundational: What is IPE? How does it work in health care systems? Why is it important?
• Tier 2 Simulated Patient Care: Teamwork in a classroom using simulated patient cases (e.g. Team-based, case-based discussions)
• Tier 3 Indirect Patient Care: Clinically reason together about real patient care in a classroom setting; independent review of data in preparation for class
• Tier 4 Direct Patient Care: Co-interview and examine patients together; clinically reason together; co-create, implement, and follow up on patient care plans

Playing a Critical Role in the Pharmacy Student Experience

The inclusion of IPE in national and ACPHS domains highlights its critical role in the pharmacy student experience.

National ACPE accreditation requirements include team dynamics, team education and team practice. It also involves core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for new pharmacy graduates, particularly in the interprofessional team member domain. The Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education domains cover several areas, such as learner development, problem-solving, collaboration, advocacy, communication, self-awareness, leadership, innovation and professionalism. Moreover, the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) involves five essential steps: collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow up, which includes monitoring the patient's progress.

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has laid out a strategic plan that focuses on five key areas:

• Academic Excellence
• Quality Student Experience
• People and Culture
• Engaging with Communities
• Financial Strength & Stewardship

The College also has a set of core values that guide its activities and interactions. These values include community, collaboration, respect, integrity and student-centeredness. Community involves a shared sense of purpose and identity, while collaboration breaks down silos and encourages teamwork. Respect demonstrates professional courtesy and exhibits care, concern and consideration for others. Integrity is about honesty, trust, principles, accountability and responsibility, and requires all members to behave in a way that reflects positively on themselves and the institution. Most importantly, student-centeredness involves mutual respect and positive and engaging interactions.

What are the components of the IPE Student Experience?

As per the ACPE accreditation standards, all pharmacy schools must create an IPE student experience.

• Interprofessional team dynamics – All students are expected to show their competence in interprofessional team dynamics. This includes the ability to articulate the values and ethics that underpin interprofessional practice, engage in effective interprofessional communication (e.g., conflict resolution and documentation skills), and honor their interprofessional roles and responsibilities. The didactic and Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) components of the curriculum introduce, reinforce and provide opportunities for practice of interprofessional team dynamics. Competency in interprofessional team dynamics is then demonstrated in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) practice settings.
• Interprofessional team education – The curriculum enables collaboration and quality patient care by providing students with interprofessional educational activities. These activities help students learn from and work with other healthcare team members and understand their abilities and competencies, as well as their scope of practice. Note that some activities may involve simulations, but not all. 
• Interprofessional team practice – As competent healthcare team members, all students participate in providing direct patient care and engaging in shared therapeutic decision-making. They engage in experiential educational activities with prescribers/student prescribers and other healthcare team members. These activities include face-to-face interactions and are designed to improve interprofessional team effectiveness.

"It is a great learning experience to be able to work with medical students. Honestly, this type of interprofessional training will change the next generation of healthcare professionals. We will be more collaborative patient care providers and that is what the healthcare system needs."

"Working alongside medical student colleagues has left me with the most meaningful impression overall. I am now a firm believer that to effectively work together as healthcare professionals, we must learn together as effective students. This will definitely affect the way in which I practice pharmacy now having completed this interprofessional experience."

"Collaborating with a new med student each week challenged our adaptability to work with each other as interprofessional colleagues to figure out how our professions "fit" in with each other while caring for the same patients. Each week we had to find the best workflow with each other, and since everyone has a different style and approach, it was a bit jarring at times to figure out how we could each benefit each other and grow from one another."

"Through this process, I gained a more solidified sense of other’s roles and how we could use each other as a resource. We learned to adapt to each other’s professions and execute quality patient care within a multidisciplinary team. We improved our communication with each other, settled into a smooth workflow, and executed better patient care, and then started from scratch again with new partners the following week."

"Not all rotations have a strong interprofessional component or exposure to other health care professionals or students, but this rotation has definitely provided a wonderful interprofessional experience. It is crucial to have IPE experience to better understand the other professionals you work alongside with and find how we each fit into each other like puzzle pieces as the health care team taking care of our patients."

"The interprofessional aspect of this experience had the biggest impact on me. Learning to work together with medical students provided me with insight into the aspects of patient care that medical students provide versus what pharmacy students provide. Understanding how our roles differed allowed me to maximize my contributions on the team and give recommendations that showcased the value of a pharmacy student. Working with the medical students also challenged me to create interprofessional relationships centered on trust and mutual respect."

"During my experience in my inpatient internal medicine rotation, I was given the opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary team of medical students, resident physicians, student physician assistants and hospital attending physicians in an effort to build the best possible patient care plans for our patients. My focus on the medications allowed the medical students to focus on the examinations and physical aspects of the patient care, allowing me to use their assessments to guide our recommendations based on the guidelines. This experience was unlike any other experience I have had during my career as a pharmacy intern."

• Acute Care Interprofessional Student Collaboration: Benefits of Medical and Pharmacy Students Working Together
• Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine PIPE Poster Presentation
• Emerging Opportunities in Experiential Education (AACP Newsletter)
• Interprofessional Education (IPE) Scaffolding (Adapted from Millers Pyramid)
• Interprofessional opioid and addiction teaching day for third-year medical and pharmacy students (Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice)

What are the responsibilities of the committee?

 IPE Steering Committee with Albany Medical Center

C. Lynn Cabral, MD Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine Assistant Dean for Medical Education for Years Three and Four Albany Medical College

Dr. Carol Lynn Cabral, MD, and Dr. Amanda Engle, PharmD, BCPS, co-chairs of the steering committee with Albany Medical Center.

The committee is responsible for creating an IPE program between AMC and ACPHS. Their objectives include developing, coordinating and facilitating the implementation of immersive learning experiences, cross-disciplinary curricular options, student organizations, and other innovative opportunities to promote IPE. They also provide faculty development to broaden perception, knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding IPE.

To enhance team-building effectiveness and knowledge sharing opportunities, it is crucial to incorporate IPE core competencies in the curriculum. These competencies, identified in a nationwide report by six organizations representing health professional schools, aim to prepare students for integrated and high-quality care in the evolving healthcare system. The four IPE competency domains (e.g., values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication, teams and teamwork) are defined by 38 sub-competencies that describe essential behaviors.

In addition, the committee is tasked with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating IPE-focused instructional and training opportunities. The committee also assesses the needs and barriers of the AMC-ACPHS community in relation to infrastructure and capacity for growth. They also cultivate collaborative relationships with IPE programs at other institutions to identify and share best practices in IPE curriculum, training, research and clinical implementation.