Interprofessional Longitudinal Student Geriatric Clinic to Enhance Collaborative Practice
The complexity in caring for older adults necessitates interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP). To enhance competence in geriatrics and IPCP, a team comprised of MD, NP, PA, and DPT students provided annual wellness visits (AWV) and follow-up visits for older adults in a half-day hybrid telehealth/in-person clinic over 4-to-21-week blocks with direct interprofessional (IP) faculty observation with a focus on mobility, mentation, medications, multi-complexity, and what matters most to patients (the 5Ms). Student evaluation tools included: (1) pre-post self-assessed readiness for IPCP (ISVS-21), (2) pre-post confidence in the 5M’s, (3) post IP teamwork behaviors (ITOFT) and (4) self-assessment of telehealth experiences. In addition, post faculty assessment of student’s telemedicine proficiency and patient perspectives on team communication (CAT-T) were completed. A total of 11 IP students and 5 IP faculty participated in the 33-week study. Twenty-eight patients were seen for AWVs and 12 for follow-up visits. CAT-T survey (scale of 1-5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent) (Nf22) results were uniformly high (range 4.3 to 4.7), highest ratings included treating patients with respect, greeting patients in a way that made them feel comfortable, and spending right amount of time. Lowest ratings included giving as much information as they wanted, involving the patient in decisions as much as they wanted, and discussing next steps. The CAT-T scores improved as the year progressed. Students improved with respect to ISVS-21 (mean pre 4.5 to post 5.8 on a scale of 1-7) and 5Ms concepts (mean pre 2.6 to post 3.8 on a scale of 1 to 5). All students felt competent in telehealth after the experience. The IP telehealth clinic demonstrates feasibility and showed an increase in students’ readiness for IPCP, confidence in the 5Ms, and telehealth skills. These experiences will likely improve the transition of students to practice and endow healthcare leadership.
