Abstract:

Our School of Health Professions successfully transitioned an interprofessional development course online during the COVID19 pandemic. The success of the course was the result of using a holistic model incorporating online pedagogy, educational technology, and innovative solutions to maintain the active learning in the course. Assessments measuring learning outcomes and student evaluations contributed to formative feedback and summative review of the activities confirmed the effectiveness and efficiency of the course. Other institutions followed a similar process to transition interprofessional educational activities online. As the pandemic began to subside we used a systematic process to decide what, if anything, should be brought back to a face-to-face environment as students returned to campus as we moved forward after the pandemic.

Institutions across the United States, and globally, had to find ways to transition their interprofessional education (IPE) online during the pandemic. At our institution, first year graduate health professions students take a mandatory year-long course HCS5106 Interprofessional Development, Education, Active Learning (IDEAL). Topics include communication skills, teamwork, conflict management, cultural competency, and other interprofessional skills necessary to succeed in a collaborative healthcare environment.

The biggest challenge for the IDEAL course during the pandemic was finding a way transition complex active learning IPE activities. For example, some of the more complex IPE activities included: an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) style simulation of an interprofessional team meeting for discharge planning of an elderly patient; a pre-clinical “boot camp” including TeamSTEPPS® Essentials and an interactive workshop on how to address harmful bias in the clinical setting; a large symposium-like activity with small interprofessional breakout groups using an escape room activity to build communication and teamwork skills; and an assisted living facility visit incorporating an interprofessional team interview and assessment of an elder person living at the facility. Innovative solutions in IPE for activities such as these at health care education institutions kept the learning active and the students engaged during the pandemic.

Moving forward, as the pandemic subsided, institutions questioned whether to keep some of the innovative online IPE solutions. We implemented a systematic process to decide whether to return an IPE activity to face-to-face or leave in an online format. This process included using specific considerations such as: timing of the activity (current, projected, optional); outcomes (in person vs. online); logistics (location, space, number of students, scheduling, budget); costs (in person vs. online); and evaluations (student and faculty feedback). This process was systematic and efficient and could be used as a model by other institutions struggling with whether to keep IPE and other educational activities online or return face-to-face after the COVID19 pandemic.

Keywords:

Interprofessional education, distance learning, pandemic, remote learning, face-to-face, transition.