Newswise — Thomas Jefferson University has announced the creation of the Jefferson Center for InterProfessional Education. This new center, one of only a few in the nation, is dedicated to improving patient care through coordination, implementation and evaluation of a team-based education curriculum. This curriculum will include medical, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and pharmacy students, as well as physicians receiving advanced residency and fellowship training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Christine Arenson, M.D., director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Molly Rose, F.N.P., Ph.D., professor in the School of Nursing will serve as co-directors of the new center.
"This is the future of medical education in this country," said Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D, President of Thomas Jefferson University. "Fostering interaction and education across disciplines is imperative to providing patients with the best possible care. I am very pleased that Jefferson will be at the forefront of this evolution of healthcare education."
The curriculum brings students from varying disciplines together in teams from the very beginning of their education. Clinical team-based simulations are also incorporated into the new teaching model.
The major component of the initial rollout will be the Jeff Health Mentors program. This unique program pairs two medical students, a nursing student and an occupational/physical therapy student with a chronically ill patient who will mentor the students on living with and treating their various ailments. Every medical, nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy student matriculating at Jefferson will participate in this required curriculum. Beginning in fall 2008, pharmacy and public health students will also be involved.
"This is a twist, a reversal, of the typical doctor-patient relationship," said Arenson. "Usually a patient comes in and a doctor or other health care professional cares for them. This program is the opposite. Patients will teach our students, assembled in interdisciplinary teams, about living with their chronic illness. Patients with different ailments like cancer, heart problems, arthritis, diabetes, and asthma will describe their experiences living with the chronic medical conditions, what works to treat them, and in some cases what doesn't work. These days it takes a well coordinated team to properly care for the rapidly aging population. We believe the best model for teaching future doctors, nurses and therapists is to learn first hand from the patients they will be caring for in the future."
The interprofessional teams will meet with patients eight times over two years. At the first meeting students will learn about their patient mentors as people. Students have been surprised at the rich and varied lives led by people managing multiple, sometimes quite serious, chronic illnesses. Subsequent meetings include completing a comprehensive health history as a team, discussing health care system issues and learning from their patient mentors about professionalism " that is, what do patients need and expect from their health professionals. The students meet throughout the year with faculty advisors to discuss what they have learned from their mentors and their teammates. Throughout the two year curriculum reflection papers and formal and informal presentations will be used to assess what students have learned and to allow students to share with each other. All of the disciplines are brought together at least twice a year in the classroom setting to share lessons learned and further develop specific team skills. A chronic illness perceptions and interprofessional attitudes student survey developed at Jefferson will provide an ongoing evaluation tool to assess the effectiveness of this unique curriculum.
"The current state of affairs in medical education has doctors and nurses working together, but they have never met each other during their respective years in training," said Arenson. "This sometimes leads to a culture of blame, an "us vs. them" mentality that we want to eradicate to the benefit of both the patients and the students. We think by fostering a team-based learning experience we can change perspectives on roles in the real world."
In addition to being director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Jefferson Medical College, Dr. Arenson is also an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Her additional interests include community-based partnerships to provide comprehensive services to low-income seniors, and improving self-management skills among African American elders.
In her position with the School of Nursing, Dr. Rose has worked on chronic disease management groups and directs the Community Health Nursing masters program. Dr. Rose's research interests include health promotion and disease prevention specifically, HIV/AIDS, in the elderly and women.
Other institutions offering varied degrees of comprehensive interprofessional education in the United States are: the University of Washington, the University of Minnesota, Creighton University and St. Louis University.
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