Development and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Module for the Tracheostomy Procedure for Improved Patient Care.

The Interprofesional collaborative practice (IPCP) is the need of the hour for improved patient care. The procedure of tracheotomy is a life saving procedure and the implementation of the Interprofessional collaborative practice module for the same comprising of the ENT surgeon, Physiotherapist, Nursing staff, OT and Trauma technician decreases the number of complications. This study was carried out to develop and evaluate the Interprofessional collaborative practice module for Tracheostomy. The project has been carried out as a prospective before and after study with the departments of ENT, nursing and Allied health sciences. The facilitators were from the above departments.They were sensitized and developed the Interprofessional education (IPE team),which then collaborated to develop the IPCP module.This IPE team after faculty meetings developed the module with learning objectives, teaching learning methods and methods of assessment. Standardized Readiness scale for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), was adopted for the module. The questionnaires for assessment and the module were structured and validated.The template of reflection was compiled for the execution of the module. The students training comprised of the demonstration session, baseline Team OSCE, practice sessions and the final Team OSCE. The baseline and final Team OSCE scores,reflections and RIPLS scores were compared. Team OSCE scores baseline vs Final for IPCP competencies i.e. Competency 1-Values and Ethics for Interprofessional Practice, Competency 2-Roles and Responsibilities, Competency 3-Interprofessional Communication, Competency 4-Teams and Teamwork during Pretracheostomy (PreT),Tracheostomy(T) and PostTracheostomy (PostT) were calculated. Faculty observations: TOSCE scores (pre T/T/postT) significantly improved for all the four IPCP competencies (p < 0.001). Self evaluation did not get any significant improvements in PreT and T but significant improvement (P < 0.001) in competency 2 for Post T. Peer evaluation there was significant improvement for the competencies 1 & 2 and overall as well (p < 0.001) during preT, competency 2 during T and competency 2, 3, 4 during PostT. The reflections had a highly significant change from baseline to final (p < 0.001).On final evaluation for the Readiness scale for Interprofessional learning the faculties and students had significant changes in opinions in all the items of the readiness scale (p < 0.05). The project was able to achieve a motivated IPE team which could successfully structure and effectively conduct the IPCP module for the procedure of tracheostomy.

A meme-based approach for enhancing student engagement and learning in renal physiology.

As educators around the world are exploring new approaches to keep students involved in remote learning during the pandemic, we investigated the utility of memes in promoting engagement in the online environment. Medical students enrolled in a human physiology course at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sohar, Oman were provided with an option to create memes related to the learning outcomes in renal physiology. One hundred forty-six of 280 students chose to create memes (52%), and the remaining students chose to submit either a labeled diagram or a concept map. Students uploaded their work in the discussion forum of the learning management system. All students enrolled in the course were given an opportunity for interaction with the uploaded content by commenting and upvoting thereafter. Students were requested to give anonymous feedback on their experience specifically on the activity related to memes. Feedback received from 142 of 280 students through anonymous comments was subjected to thematic analysis. Based on the analysis of the data, we found that memes elicited interest in the topic, facilitated peer interaction, simplified complex ideas, enhanced retention of associated concepts, and fostered a positive learning environment.

Fostering global health policy leadership through World Health Assembly simulations: debating climate change and health.

The South Asian region is predicted to be among the most severely affected by the health impacts of climate change and warrants regional health policy leadership to tackle the same. Model World Health Organization (WHO) simulations offer the academic opportunity to build this leadership. This study describes the conceptualization and conduct of the 'Manipal Model World Health Organization' 2018 debate simulation, where a multi-professional group of students at an Indian university deliberated approaches to address the regional health impacts of climate change in South Asia. We contextualized the Model WHO debate model for a multi-professional classroom. Multi-sectoral stakeholders were engaged to draw participants from health and non-health disciplines. Participants were trained in health research literacy, policy politics, bloc politics, writing and public speaking for Model WHO. Mock sessions provided training in navigating parliamentary procedures. The debate event consisted of 22 participants and a four-member panel from diverse academic disciplines who independently assessed the deliberations. All delegations demonstrated competent written and verbal contributions. Content analysis of resolutions reaffirmed international agreements and addressed the Climate Change Health Risk Framework, and objectives of the WHO Secretariat Action Plan. Besides presenting a stratified typology of academic health policy debate simulations in global, regional, and subnational contexts, we also propose a 'theory of change', illustrating how academic policy discourse platforms can nurture critical thinking, research/policy literacy and leadership skills. Such initiatives help build the health policy leadership required for addressing global health challenges such as climate change.

Debating evidence-based health policy in an interprofessional classroom: an exploratory study.

Model United Nations (MUN) debates enable students to engage in policy debate in simulated UN councils, and are regularly held in schools and colleges, globally. In developing countries where leadership and teamwork in 'evidence-based policy and practice' is needed to overcome health inequities and strengthen health systems, few curricula teach these skills using simulation-based, participatory learning approaches. Do MUN debates have something to offer for health professions education in low-resource settings? Since MUN debates are novel in health profession education, we aimed to identify the skill domains for selection of outcome measures in future evaluations. We employed an exploratory, qualitative approach to identify relevant competency domains. The 8 students (4 medical, 1 dental, and 3 pre-med) who volunteered to participate in the MedMUN initiative were interviewed, responses were thematically analyzed and a conceptual framework was developed. Leadership (subthemes: confidence and public-speaking), teamwork (subthemes: student integration and interprofessional education), and social responsibility (subthemes: democracy and a global outlook) were dominant themes. MUN debates are useful, interprofessional simulation exercises for providing students a window into global health policy, while engendering leadership and teamwork skills.