Social workers are integral healthcare team members and are often overlooked for interprofessional education (IPE) with medical students. At the time of project development, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) did not offer a medicine/social work (SW) IPE. An interdisciplinary team including 1 SW professor, 1 SW student, and 6 MCW students identified this as an area for curricular improvement. Our team conducted a needs assessment by interviewing various stakeholders (n=48). From…

Interprofessional education is an essential component of every health care professional’s training.1 Since 2016 when the Commission of Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) added interprofessional education to required elements in Physical Education, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students have been training in this to contribute their own profession’s specialized knowledge as well as be a part of a team that ultimately improves patient outcomes.2 The Interprofessional…

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) addresses the idea that health professionals must effectively collaborate in an interprofessional team to provide optimal patient-centered care. Research supports that IPE has substantial benefits for health professions students including improved knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward interprofessional practice. Evidence also supports that IPE improves patient care outcomes. An effective way to implement IPE is through exercises that address…

The problems facing healthcare today require interdisciplinary approaches. Recognizing this, the Dell Medical School, the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease at UT Health Austin launched the Clinical Innovation and Design Program (CID). The CID fellows, a mixture of medical students and graduate level engineers, explore clinical needs and develop a solution as a team over the course of 10 months. The CID program educates students on…

BACKGROUND: As many as 30% of emergency department (ED) visits in the United States are for problems that are not considered urgent,1 meaning they could have been treated in another setting. Patients with chronic conditions often seek care from ED services for non-emergent problems. $4.4 billion in annual costs could be saved if patients sought treatment for their non-urgent problem in the proper setting. Interprofessional clinics (IPCs) are well-suited to address these challenges. Despite…

An estimated 46-89% of children with autism present with pediatric feeding disorder, characterized by selective eating, which negatively impacts their nutrition and health. Registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) and speech-language pathologists (SLP) serve as key interprofessional team members to improve patient outcomes in this population. A lack of literature exists regarding the complementary roles of RDNs and SLPs specifically related to pediatric feeding disorders in the…

Purpose/Background: More families than ever lack access to diapers leading to a public health crisis. Diaper need is a basic need and is defined as an inadequate supply of diapers to change a child as often as needed. 1 in 3 families struggle to provide clean diapers for their babies. Yet, there are no federal programs to assist with diaper needs and diapers cannot be purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Diapers are essential to a baby’s healthy…