Students in the Interprofessional Placement at Bridgepoint this fall received certificates for completing the program. From left to right are, Rubi (Social Work), Gwen (Therapeutic Recreation), Peter (Pharmacy), Kennette (Nursing) and Jency (nursing).[/caption]
This fall Bridgepoint hosted 24 students for four different interprofessional education placements in partnership with the University of Toronto. The participants included students from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, social work and therapeutic recreation. They attended three weekly sessions where they met and shadowed patients during care and engaged in group discussions. The themes for this fall’s placements were, complexity, palliative care and stroke rehabilitation care.
One student noted that, thanks to the Interprofessional learning opportunity, “I believe I will be more comfortable in approaching other disciplines and viewing patients more holistically.”
The placements culminated in a presentation on effective and ineffective communication.
Following the presentation, the students identified some key learnings they will take with them in their practice, including:
- The importance of good team communication;
- Understanding there may be role overlap between team members;
- The importance of being able to clarify roles with other team members; and,
- Listening to the patient’s voice.
The Interprofessional placement was facilitated by Robyn Davies, Interprofessional Education Specialist; Vince Chien, Physician; Paul Corteza, Nurse Educator; Christopher Hayden Social Worker; Brenda Stein, Social Worker; Shawn Tracy, Research Associate; and Tasneem Wallani, Speech Language Pathologist.