In St. Louis University’s (SLU’s) Interprofessional (IP) Community practicum course, teams of six undergraduate students from different health professions (e.g., athletic training, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy) collaborate with local non-profit organizations, each of which serves under-resourced communities, over the course of a semester to develop and implement a health or wellness project focused on addressing their community partner’s goals. Class time is divided between large group instruction, community engagement experiences, facilitated team activities, and student-led team meetings. At the end of the semester, IP student teams submit a project abstract and create a professional poster describing their project and its outcomes. Teams then disseminate their final project (e.g., goals, design, findings) at a class-wide poster symposium to which peers, faculty, and community partners are invited.
Due to the spread of COVID-19, all in-person instruction and face-to-face learning at SLU was suspended midway through the semester in Spring 2020. In order to adapt teaching and learning strategies to a virtual learning environment in a community-engaged course, unique solutions were implemented to address the loss of face-to-face instruction including the poster symposium. The presenter will describe steps taken to shift this culminating event from an in-person poster symposium attended by over 200 individuals to an entirely virtual format. Furthermore, the presenter will discuss lessons learned and next steps regarding future poster symposiums that enhance student learning, address and involve community partners, and contribute to improving health and wellness in our community. Moreover, the ways this final presentation format augmented student learning about interprofessionalism in the modern and technologically-advanced health care workplace will be enumerated as well (e.g., by encouraging online communication and collaboration).
Disclosures:
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s Standards for Commercial Support, adopted by the Joint Accreditors for Interprofessional Continuing Education, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has a conflict of interest policy that requires that all individuals involved in the development of activity content disclose their relevant financial relationships with commercial interests. All potential conflicts of interest that arise based upon these financial relationships are resolved prior to the educational activity.
Melanie Dodd, Deborah Doerfler, Jessica Salazar, Beth Davis, Douglas Ander, Jeannie Weston, Jessica Barreca, Rachel Rauvola
declare no vested interest in or affiliation with any commercial interest offering financial support for this interprofessional continuing education activity, or any affiliation with a commercial interest whose philosophy could potentially bias their presentation.
In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Provider, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
