On Thursday, April 19, 2018, students from MBKU's OD, PA and PharmD programs, along with RN students from Cal State Fullerton, participated in the first-ever interprofessional simulation exercise at MBKU's campus in Fullerton, Calif. Small groups of students were given 90 minutes to work through a standardized patient encounter in one of MBKU's mock patient exam rooms. Under the supervision of faculty, students worked collaboratively to evaluate their patient, which included everything from asking the patient about their health history to a physical examination to developing a comprehensive management plan. Students from MBKU's College of Pharmacy were on hand to conduct a pharmacy consult as part of the exercise.
"The program gave students the opportunity to apply interprofessional communication skills to a simulated patient encounter," said Allison Mollet, PA-C, Associate Director, School of PA Studies. "It was exciting to collaborate with students from other programs," said Tara Anderson, PA-S, Class of 2019. "Each of us brought our unique skills and training to the exercise, but we were all working toward the same goal, addressing the health care needs of the patient." After the 90-minute exercise, students and faculty debriefed to discuss what went well, what they learned and how the team approach to care impacted the exercise. Marshall B. Ketchum University plans to host more IPE simulation exercises in the future.