Multidisciplinary Simulation: Effective Competency-Building Exercise for Interprofessional Health Practice

A simulation workshop involving public health, medical, informatics, and law students was held in the fall of 2014. The goal was to demonstrate potential for the collaborative capacity-building of future health professionals aligned with competencies highlighted by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) (2011). Students volunteered to participate. Two randomly assigned, discipline-representative groups participated in team-building exercises, six fifty-minute simulations and debrief. Groups were purposively reassigned after the first three simulations to facilitate teamwork and communication skills-building.

Three simulations were clinically based, involving simulated patients; three were non-clinical, confronting issues in the administration, organization, functioning and intent of the US health system. The four major IPEC competencies are: values & ethics, roles & responsibilities, communication and teamwork. The pre-post survey evaluation was mixed methods and contained 61 5-point Likert items grouped in six summary scales. Questions regarding clinical or non-clinical disposition (a potential false dichotomy) and competency & knowledge supplemented the four competency areas. Paired parametric analysis of the Likert summary scales was performed, finding attitudinal change in competency & knowledge (p<0.001), roles & responsibilities (p<0.001), communication (p=0.0146) and teamwork (p<0.001) (n=15).

Our findings suggest that this model for interprofessional health education presents a promising opportunity to improve systems-thinking, collaborative capital, and key competencies in future professionals. Establishing networks, understanding the roles of and having the capacity to work effectively with other professionals are extremely important skills. To prepare their students for excellence in dynamic and unpredictable environments, professional degree programs should emphasize co-curricular interprofessional development that incorporates IPEC’s competency framework.