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Team-based Care

Prepare PA students for team-based care through interprofessional education.

Using multiple approaches throughout the CWRU PA program, our students explore attitudes of interprofessional collaboration with specific attention given to the broadening of the team approach beyond the conventional physician-PA team approach. Interprofessional learning happens in the classroom, in simulated experiences and in the clinical arena.

100% of our PA students participate in centralized interprofessional education activities through CWRU's Office of Interprofessional Education and get classroom-based interprofessional education. This is a Case Western Reserve University school wide endeavor where over 600 students from the medical, nursing, dental, genetic counseling, speech language pathology, and social work schools come together to explore their knowledge, skills, and attitudes of interprofessional learning, with specific attention to their understanding of the scope of practice of their own and each other’s professions.

All of our students get further in depth IPE training using didactic sessions, as well as opportunities to put their skills into practice using simulation teaching methods and/or community service and experiential learning sites. In addition to their experiences in clinical rotations, they have the real life experience of using IPE skills in clinical practice sites doing quality improvement projects.

Teaching ModalitiesProject Name% of Class 2024 Completed% of Class 2025 Completed% of Class 2026 Completed
Foundational Course Team Skills for Collaborative CareFoundational Course Team Skills/Centralized IPE Activities100%100%100%
Simulation of IPE Physical Diagnosis SkillsetPhysical Diagnosis - PA and Nursing Students100%100%100%
Simulation of IPE Communication SkillsMock Page - PA and Nursing Students100%100%100%
Simulation of IPE Communication SkillsInfant with Fever Simulation - PA and PharmD Students100%100%100%
Simulation of IPE Care to a Patient and CaregiverPatient and Caregiver Simulation100%100%100%
Community Service Learning on AdvocacyStudent Run Health Clinic26%50%64%
Experiential Learning IPE Health Advocacy AcquisitionCareStrong - Health Screenings at Farmers Markets, Shelters, and Food Banks100%100%43%
Experiential Learning IPE Health Advocacy Skills AcquisitionSchool Based Lead, Height, Weight, and Vision Screenings100%100%100%

All of these educational efforts serve to encourage interprofessional learning of communication and exam skills, strengthen team based interactions, as well as facilitate internalization of the professional values of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Competencies.