UNE’s Interprofessional Education highlighted at physician assistant conference

Physician Assistant (PA) students recently highlighted collaborative efforts among several UNE programs during presentations at the Maine Association of Physician Assistants (MEAPA) annual conference.

The students gave several presentations on their involvement with interprofessional education.

During “Interprofessional Case-Based Learning to Enhance Collaboration Among Medical Professionals,” students described how an interprofessional team composed of Physician Assistant, College of Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Work and Nursing students collaborated on a simulated patient encounter involving health disparities and socioeconomic challenges. Students utilized Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) strategies to understand the patients’ needs and determine how the team could best approach patient-centered care.

Students described how Physician Assistant, Dental Medicine, Social Work, College of Medicine, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy and Nursing students utilized tools from TeamSTEPPS 2.0 to deliver a higher level of care and improve patient outcomes in a simulated standardized patient encounter in “Elimination of Workplace Barriers Through Student Implementation of TeamSTEPPS 2.0.”

In “Unintentional Benefit of Jail Wellness intervention Project” students described how the UNE Interprofessional Educational Collaborative (IPEC) within the Cumberland County jail provided inmates with resources for healthy living and opportunities for discussion and support. The team was composed of students from Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Social Work.

 “Improving Collaborative Skills Through Multidisciplinary Student Simulation” demonstrated that inter-professional collaboration allowed members of the team, including    students from Physician Assistant, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Osteopathic Medicine and Nursing to create relationships with providers of multiple disciplines in order to utilize their expertise in the treatment of patients.

In “Bringing Motivational Interviewing to Clinical Practice,” Physician Assistant and Nursing students examined the value of implementing SBIRT principals, including drug and alcohol risk screening, intervention, and therapeutic communication in the form of motivational interviewing, across all health care professions and practices. 

Mary Nonack (Physician Assistant, S-1), Meaghan Thornberg (Physician Assistant, S-1), Cathleen Cassie (Physician Assistant, S-1), Christina Golden (Physician Assistant, S-1) and John Mladucky (Physician Assistant, S-2) took part in the presentations.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity for students to network with other students and PA professionals.

The MEAPA provides support and resources to PAs, PA students and affiliate health care partners who practice in the state of Maine.