Advancing Practical Collaboration in Healthcare Through Student-developed Interprofessional Case Conferences

Interprofessionalism is an essential aspect of student development and the growth of healthcare as a whole. Primary Care Progress is a student-led organization at the University of Pittsburgh dedicated to establishing the respect, appreciation, and understanding amongst health-professional students that is necessary for success as practitioners. The primary event is an Interprofessional Case Conference in which members of a variety of healthcare disciplines collaborate and create patient cases that are complex enough to incorporate each of the professional programs in a thoughtful way. At the case conference, students are split into interdisciplinary groups to discuss the patient case with the assistance of facilitators from various professional backgrounds, practice sites and specialties. A key component of case conference development is the creation of a facilitator guide which includes discussion points, questions and ideal answers with explanations to enable the facilitators to help students reach their learning goals. In the 2019-2020 year, 3 of these events were held with more than 275 health professional students attending. The Primary Care Progress conferences help prepare participating students for a lifetime of interprofessional respect, communication, learning, and collaboration.