A Team-Based Practicum Bringing Together Students Across Educational Institutions and Health Professions

Area of Science:

• Healthcare education
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Domestic violence awareness

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) is crucial for preparing healthcare professionals.
• Effective teamwork is essential for comprehensive patient care.
• Identifying domestic violence requires specific training and awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student perceptions of teamwork in an interprofessional exercise.
• To assess the ability of students to identify domestic violence.
• To understand the impact of IPE on recognizing professional roles.

Main Methods:

• Multidisciplinary student teams (medical, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, social work) participated in a simulated patient encounter.
• The case involved a patient with an injury masking domestic violence.
• A post-exercise survey assessed teamwork perceptions and domestic violence recognition.

Main Results:

• High agreement (70-94%) on clarity of team responsibilities and universal recognition (100%) of team-based care benefits.
• Only 38% of medical students reported team insights into domestic violence; 52% did not view team members as resources for such cases.
• Students gained better understanding of interprofessional roles and responsibilities.

Conclusions:

• IPE enhances students' appreciation for diverse professional knowledge and responsibilities.
• Current curricula may be insufficient for equipping students to identify domestic violence within team settings.
• Targeted educational enhancements are necessary to improve domestic violence detection skills in interprofessional contexts.