Mitigating Misinformation Toolkit: Addressing COVID-19 Misinformation Through Interprofessional Learning and Collaboration Using a Standardized Patient-Based Educational Module.

Introduction: Medical mis- and disinformation are on the rise and impact patient health outcomes. The complexity of modern medicine and health care delivery necessitates that care be delivered by an interprofessional team of providers well versed in addressing this increased prevalence of medical misinformation. Health professions educational curricula often lack opportunities for students to learn how to address medical misinformation, employ advanced communication techniques, and work collaboratively. Methods: Based on literature and our previous qualitative research, we created a module offering prework learning on COVID-19 and addressing misinformation through advanced communication techniques and interprofessional collaboration. After completing prework, students participated in a standardized patient encounter addressing COVID misinformation. Health professions student dyads completed a preencounter planning huddle and together interviewed a standardized patient. Students received global and checklist-based feedback from standardized patients and completed pre- and postsession self-assessments. Results: Twenty students participated (10 third-year medical, nine third-year pharmacy, one fourth-year pharmacy). Key findings included the following: Nine of 15 survey questions demonstrated statistically significant improvement, including all three questions assessing readiness to have difficult conversations and six of 10 questions assessing interprofessional collaboration and team function. Discussion: Students participating in this novel curriculum advanced their readiness to address medical misinformation, including COVID-19 vaccine disinformation, with patients and coworkers to improve health decision-making and patient care. These curricular methods can be customized for use with a range of health professions learners.

An Asynchronous Curriculum to Address Substance Use Disorder Training Needs for Medical and Surgical Residents.

Developing substance use (SU) skills in medical training remains a challenge. Residents in teaching hospitals bear a large burden in managing SU sequelae and often lack support. Preventive and addiction medicine faculty defined broadly applicable core knowledge and skills for residents across specialties in a tertiary care center. Three 1-hour online modules were developed and delivered asynchronously to interns, followed by a live skills session at orientation. Topics were (1) Unhealthy SU Screening, Detection, and Intervention; (2) Bias and Communication; and (3) Safer Prescribing in Acute Pain. All 68 interns completed the curriculum. Pre/posttesting showed increased knowledge (52%-83% correct, P < .001) and perceived confidence (10-12.9, maximum 16, P < .001). Attitudes were unchanged (18.4-18.7, maximum 20, P = .07). This process identified and improved core knowledge and skills for SU prevention and treatment in medical and surgical trainees.

Rapid Development and Deployment of a Learning Management System to Train an Interprofessional Team to Manage Surgery for a COVID-19-Positive Patient.

BACKGROUND: When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, surgical services had to design and implement a new system to safely manage patients and prevent workforce exposure. METHODS: A team of clinicians and educators rapidly reengineered the surgical care process. An online learning management system (LMS) and authoring tool that supported iterative remote asynchronous communication was used to build a learning module employed to train an interprofessional team to the new care process. RESULTS: Care process redesign was accomplished in a concentrated effort involving clinicians and educators. Patient flow and the role of each team member at every phase of care was presented in the LMS. The LMS was refined by input from team members provided through the authoring tool directly to the educator on the screens where the edit was applicable. The LMS was deployed after four days to more than 100 surgical team members who managed their first COVID-19 patient two days later. The number of COVID-19 patients managed was limited, but there were no untoward patient events and no staff exposure. CONCLUSION: Care process reengineering and deployment efforts are accelerated by early involvement of educators and use of an LMS with an authoring tool that supports rapid module build and refinement in a socially distant workplace. The LMS enables access on any online platform at a time convenient to team members who can then learn at their own pace. This reengineering and LMS development approach can be generally applied to speed many care process modification and improvement efforts.