Developing a Blueprint for Incorporating Clinical Environments into IPE

Workshop Description:
East Tennessee State University has successfully integrated clinical environments into its IPE curriculum, providing over 200 students from several different health professions training programs with first hand experiences in team based care. Seven partner sites host IPE groups comprised of entry-level students, providing opportunities to interact with members of the health care team, tour the active facility and interact with a patient. Our team will discuss how we navigated complex logistics and partnerships to build these experiences into our paradigm. Attendees will be challenged to think creatively about working with clinical sites outside the university setting and provided with guidance for their program.

At least 40 minutes of the workshop will utilize active learning techniques. This workshop will consist of four sections, three similarly structured followed by a final reflective section. The first three sections (Building the Framework, Faculty Facilitators, and Clinical Partners) will be structured similarly. A brief introduction will prompt participants to identify potential barriers, helpful resources, and/or logistical concerns associated with each topic. This will be a small group activity where attendees share and record their discussion on a provided template. This will be followed by a brief overview of how the topic was approached for implementation of the ETSU IPE curriculum, while incorporating group responses to create a large group discussion. Our team brings the value of each representing the perspective of the various roles involved in the implementation: faculty, site leader, and director.
In the fourth section, attendees will use content from the prior sections to develop a blue print for their program’s opportunities in clinical environments. Our team will answer specific questions and provide consultations with the draft of attendees’ individualized blue print. The blue print can then serve as a tool to spark the development of a strategic plan for the integration of clinical environments at their program.

Learner Outcomes:
At the end of this workshop, attendees are expected to be able to:
1) identify potential barriers, helpful resources and logistical details for partnering with clinical sites to create IPE experiences in clinical environments;
2) identify barriers and helpful resources to assist faculty in facilitating IPE groups in the clinical environment;
3) create a blueprint as a guide to incorporating clinical environments into the IPE curriculum.