School of Pharmacy Interprofessional Education (IPE) Activities
By Arjun Dutta, BPharm, PhD
1. AUHS- IPE Simulation Center
AUHS has built a state-of-the-art Simulation Center which has three high-fidelity mannequins that can simulate various scenarios from childbirth to a code blue. IPE workshops are held at the simulation center on a regular basis involving pharmacy, nursing, and medical residents/students participating in case scenarios. These cases simulate real-life situations which students will encounter as professionals.
2. Charles Drew University School of Medicine (SOM)
AUHS is partnering with Charles Drew University (CDU) School of Medicine for IPE learning activities involving students in medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. AUHS has had positive discussions and endorsements from the CDU Provost and SOM Dean to move forward with an AUHS SOP and CDU SOM partnership. AUHS faculty (SOP and SON) have attended multiple CDU IPE Simulation sessions.
Since February 2019, faculty from the AUHS SOP have completed IPE simulation training with CDU faculty, personnel, and logistics planning.
The IPE Simulations involve students and faculty from medicine, nursing, and pharmacy and are required for all SOP P1-P3 students. The foci of the IPE simulations are communication, collaboration, teamwork, and conflict resolution.
For each academic year, there are several (e.g., 3) onsite IPE Simulation Days held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital. Each Simulation Day consists of students progressing through 4 clinical scenarios (e.g., preeclampsia with hypertensive emergency, seizure, organophosphate poisoning, or cardiac arrest). Simulations are staged in nursing units or emergency overflow rooms with mid-fidelity mannequins, actors, and medical equipment / pharmaceutical props. All simulation scenarios are video recorded and student performances evaluated onsite by physician, nursing, and pharmacy faculty as well as the simulation actors. After the simulations, students and faculty debrief on the experience and share feedback and self-reflections.
In addition, to the onsite IPE simulation days, virtual/teleconference IPE cases are conducted. The IPE teleconference schedule, content, and logistics are published in advance.
Besides the IPE Simulations, additional activities up for discussion with the CDU SOM include:
a. Health fairs that aid the homeless and the indigent in our respective communities.
b. Healthcare education and other services for the Cambodian population in the Long Beach area.
c. IPE grand rounds (when pharmacy, nursing, and medical students do patient rounds/follow ups under the supervision of a physician/NP).
d. IPE development, leadership, communication, patient advocacy, and cultural sensitivity related seminars or workshops
3. Lestonnac Free Clinics
An Lành Free Clinic. This free clinic has incorporated AUHS SOP students once per week since 2019. AUHS SOP faculty serve as faculty preceptors. Operated by UC Irvine’s student-run Free Clinic Project, An Lành provides healthcare to underserved populations in the Garden Grove area with many Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking patients. An Lành is in the Lestonnac Free Clinic’s Garden Grove satellite office and is open as a teaching clinic every Saturday where students from medicine and pharmacy work with patients under the supervision of volunteer physicians, pharmacists, and medical assistants.
Dr. Elaine Nguyen is training P2 Pharmacist Intern Jennifer on how to perform a podiatric diabetes screening for patients at Lestonnac Clinic.