SASKATCHEWAN — Quality patient care requires the collaboration of a team of health care providers. At Saskatchewan Polytechnic, interprofessional education (IPE) sessions encourage teamwork and prepare students for real-life scenarios and their future careers.
In the 2023-24 academic year, over 1,400 students from 17 programs in the Leslie and Irene Dubé School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences along with 160 faculty facilitators participated in online, synchronous IPE events.
This experience not only helps students prepare for their future practice by meeting IPE accreditation standards but also demonstrates Sask Polytech’s commitment to miyo wâhkôhtowin (good relationships).
Incorporating the learning objectives of the IPE curriculum and the Interprofessional Education National Competency Framework from the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (2010), Sask Polytech’s IPE events emphasize role clarification, team functioning, patient/client/family/community-centered care, collaborative leadership, interprofessional communication and conflict resolution.
Students met online in small groups via Zoom with a faculty facilitator and worked through team development activities, case scenarios and discussions. Each IPE session included a patient narrative story from a person with lived experience to focus on patient-centred care. A variety of themes were broached including harm reduction, decreasing stigma in mental health and addictions care, supporting families with children who are on the autism spectrum and a family’s journey with their child who has congenital heart disease. Facilitators and students worked through debriefing discussion questions to further take in their learning.
Laura Mikhaela Abad, a student in the , appreciates having participated in IPE. “I found the IPE session to be incredibly valuable,” she says. “It gave me a unique opportunity to work with peers who came from diverse backgrounds, which helped me improve my understanding of teamwork and communication in healthcare settings.”
She’s not alone; most participants rated the experience positively. Key learnings from IPE included a heightened awareness of other professional roles and increased confidence in applying knowledge and understanding of interprofessional attributes. Overall, students felt their groups worked effectively together and enjoyed collaborating with students from other programs.
Focusing on the patient and family/client perspective allowed students to broaden their understanding of care through a different point of view. Students will carry this practical experience with them as they continue to pursue their education and transition into their careers in the health care sector.
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