Introduction:
Every year in the United States, more than 5.7 million patients are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), of which 25-50% develop ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW), defined as new onset weakness that occurs during critical illness. Patients with ICU-AW have worse outcomes including increased mortality, longer hospitalizations, worse quality of life years after they leave the ICU, and greater healthcare costs. Early mobilization is a low-risk strategy associated with improvement in ICU-AW, and society guidelines recommend a multidisciplinary approach, including physical therapists (PT) and physicians, for rehabilitation and mobilization in critically ill patients. However, at Emory University School of Medicine, Doctor of PT (DPT) and medical doctor (MD) students participate in separate critical care curriculums and clinical rotations, and are unlikely to develop core competencies for the interprofessional approach recommended in the early mobilization of patients in the ICU.
Methods:
To optimize practice in the interprofessional clinical learning environment, we merged DPT and MD students’ critical care curriculums using team-based didactics and simulations, with the focus on early mobilization of patients in the ICU. To evaluate the impact on interprofessional education, we administered a 19-item student survey to the first student cohort (n=29) on attitudes towards teamwork (5-point Likert scale) both pre- and post-curriculum, and compared them using unpaired t-tests.
Results:
After the curriculum, students answered that they were more able to communicate effectively about patient care with persons from healthcare professions other than their own (p=0.022), more able to use terminology that is unique to other healthcare professions (p < 0.01), and better understood the roles of other health care professionals (p=0.014).
Discussion:
Students held more favorable attitudes towards teamwork after an interprofessional curriculum combining DPT and MD students. This approach can be expanded to enhance student experience for future clinical education and practice, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
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.
Fernando Ona, Samuel Lowe, Steven Bingaman, Bethany Robertson, Amisha Metha, Jessica Star, Meredith Lora, Shirly Kooran, Beth Quatrara, Beth Turrentine, Danny Harris, Lisa Daniels, Kathy Lee Bishop, Jennifer Sharp, Caroline Coleman, Douglas Ander, Chase Corvin, Anastasia Pozdnyakova, Kelli Yukon, Allison Norenberg, Kimisha Cassidy, Kevin Roggin, Ross Milner, Vineet Arora
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.
