Interprofessional Education Services at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) held a daylong workshop on team-based care and geriatrics in the ballroom of the NEOMED Education & Wellness (NEW) Center on June 18.
The event brought together NEOMED pharmacy and medicine students, Youngtown State University exercise science and nutrition/dietetics students, Walsh University nursing and physical therapy students, University of Akron nursing students and Summa Emergency Medical Services students. To be involved, each student was required to have some clinical experience.
“It was truly amazing to bring all these professions, universities and a health system together to improve the geriatric health of Northeast Ohio,” said Holly Gerzina, executive director of Interprofessional Education Services at NEOMED.
The four-hour workshop provided students with cutting-edge training in the art of working as a team in the field of geriatrics. Before attending the workshop, students took didactic training online to learn the skills needed for the day.
Each session consisted of an icebreaker, skills poster session, case studies, simulation and a final debriefing. Case studies and simulations were used to place the students in real situations in which they had to work together in their different fields to do what was best for the caregiver and the patient.
“It is all about the patient in education, and that translates into the practice of being able to work in teams,” said Cassie Konen, associate director of operations of the Wasson Center and Interprofessional Education Services at NEOMED. “These students will already have experience working together.”
NEOMED hopes to make the workshop a regular event.