Stroke Simulation Activity: A Standardized Patient Case for Interprofessional Student Learning.

Introduction: Integration of interprofessional education (IPE) activities into health professions curricula aims to promote collaborative practice with a goal of improving patient care. Methods: Through intercollegiate collaborations involving four different educational organizations and an academic health center, an interprofessional stroke simulation involving standardized patients was developed and instituted for IPE-naive student learners from medicine, nursing, physician assistant, occupational therapy, and physical therapy programs with additional involvement from pharmacy and social work learners. Herein, we describe the design of the IPE simulation and examine its impact on students' interprofessional development as assessed by students' completion of a validated IPE competency self-assessment tool and written reflective comments after the simulation. Results: Self-assessed interprofessional interaction and values domains were evaluated before and after the activity using the shortened 16-question Interprofessional Education Collaborative Competency Self-Assessment tool; data revealed significant changes in both the values and interaction domains of the tool from pre- to postsimulation experience (p < .0001). The qualitative student reflections revealed new student realizations around the concepts of collaboration, leadership, roles of different professions, and the importance of communication after participating in the simulation. Discussion: Quantitative data coupled with qualitative reflections from learners support the effectiveness of this activity for facilitating development of interprofessional competencies among health professions students.

Practicing handoffs early: Applying a clinical framework in the anatomy laboratory.

The anatomy laboratory provides an ideal environment for the integration of clinical contexts as the willed-donor is often regarded as a student's "first patient." This study evaluated an innovative approach to peer teaching in the anatomy laboratory using a clinical handoff context. The authors introduced the "Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation" (SBAR) handoff framework within the anatomy laboratory. Study participants included 147 second-year medical students completing the head and neck portion of an anatomy course. The authors used mixed methods to evaluate the impact of the anatomic SBAR on the student anatomy laboratory experience. Qualitative analysis of student evaluations revealed three themes which emerged from students' summaries of their anatomic handoff experiences: Learning-by-teaching; Acquiescing to doing more with less; and Distrust of the peer handoff process. All the themes demonstrated that the anatomic handoff encouraged students' focus on the knowledge preparation and reflection. Closed question analysis suggested that that students' perceptions of handoff usefulness were tied to deeper learning strategies. The handoff provided a mechanism for promoting students' focus on anatomical relationships and facilitated students' learning of transferable clinical skills. Together, these results suggest that the introduction of a handoff process in anatomy education provided both a mechanism for learning anatomy and a unique opportunity for early exposure to an essential clinical skill. This clinical and basic science integration may serve as a vertical integration thread which can be woven throughout undergraduate medical education. Future study will focus on exploring the long-term impacts and learning outcomes of this integration. Anat Sci Educ 9: 476-487. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.