It’s better for patients when healthcare workers collaborate and communicate. That was the goal behind Interprofessional Education Day at IUPUC, which brought together about 90 IUPUC and Franklin College health sciences students on April 21, sponsored by the East Indiana Area Health Education Center (EI-AHEC).

The program is designed to help students collaborate across healthcare disciplines, and develop leadership qualities and mutual respect for one another’s knowledge and skill sets.

“Improving communication, teamwork and understanding among healthcare workers equals better outcomes for patients,” said EI-AHEC Center Director Jeff Hartz, who facilitated the event. “This isn’t about blending together or learning side-by-side. It’s about learning about, from and with one another.”

Site coordinator and IUPUC Clinical Assistant Professor Karen East added that this provides students another level of education beyond what they get in the classroom or in clinicals. “To get nurses, athletic trainers, physician assistants and mental health counselors together in a one room, talking through scenarios and learning from one another, creates a deeper sense of learning for our students that will be so helpful when they graduate to a professional healthcare setting.”

During the half-day event, students were assigned to interprofessional teams led by faculty from both campuses, where they worked through a progressive case study involving a patient/client scenario that touched all areas of student study. Hartz noted the approach is intentionally low-tech to foster communication and sharing.

Post-event evaluations show students gain a broader understanding of other healthcare disciplines from these interprofessional education sessions, proving the event successful and meaningful for participants.

Student who attended the April 21 session at the Columbus Airpark Campus represented:

• Franklin College Master of Science in Athletic Training Studies
• Franklin College Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies
• IUPUC Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling
• IUPUC Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner
• IUPUC Bachelor of Science in Nursing

As an organization, EI-AHEC works to make sure interprofessional education opportunities exist for students in health professions in the region both by supporting communication and collaboration between the various health professions college programs and by developing local-level interprofessional learning opportunities for students completing clinicals at hospitals and other sites that host students from multiple disciplines and programs.

For more information about EI-AHEC, visit eiahec.org.