Waterloo Pharmacy and Northern Ontario School of Medicine University team up to bring students together for an interprofessional learning experience
On November 26, 2024, more than 200 University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM U) students attended the first annual Interprofessional Addictions and Substance Use curriculum. This collaborative curriculum was jointly hosted by Waterloo Pharmacy and NOSM U and was supported by 25 facilitators composed of faculty and staff, multiple physicians and researchers from both academic institutions.
“This virtual interprofessional learning experience was a new opportunity for our third-year pharmacy students to connect with first-year medical students from NOSM U. Students discussed patient cases in breakout groups and shared knowledge and skills to make collaborative decisions to tackle real-world problems,” Debbie Ellen says, interprofessional education program manager at Waterloo Pharmacy.
“Early exposure to interprofessional education for medical and pharmacy students fosters collaboration, communication, and role clarification, essential skills for their future healthcare careers,” says Dr. Gayle Adams-Carpino, interprofessional education faculty member in the Division of Human Sciences at NOSM U.
Interprofessional healthcare providers from Sister Margaret Smith Centre, St. Joseph’s Care Group from Thunder Bay followed, with a live interprofessional panel discussion during which students engaged and could ask questions relevant to the complexities of the case study. A nurse practitioner specializing in addiction and mental health shared their lived experiences with addiction to shed light on the importance of team-based approaches to caring for people living with addiction. This provided an important person-centred narrative to the learning experience.
Engaging in interprofessional education helps students understand the unique contributions of each profession, promoting a team-based approach to patient care. This is particularly important in Northern Ontario, where maximizing scopes of practice and leveraging interprofessional knowledge is vital to effectively address health and social disparities.
"Bringing students together from multiple disciplines gives them the early exposure to understand the value of interprofessional work before stepping into their careers,” Ellen adds
Thank you to Dr. Gayle Adams-Carpino and John Dabous, instructional designer at NOSM U, and coordinators from both Waterloo Pharmacy and NOSM U for the logistical tasks of organizing student groups. Thank you to Dr. Mike Beazley, associate professor at Waterloo Pharmacy and Dr. Rita Dhami, adjunct clinical assistant professor at Waterloo Pharmacy for their leadership. Thank you to the student groups from NOSM U who have supported content development and Waterloo Pharmacy students that collaborated to develop health promotion outreach and to all volunteer facilitators who made this event possible.