INTERDISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONAL-EDUCATION - A COLLABORATIVE CLINICAL TEACHING PROJECT

As health care institutions restructure the delivery of services to increase efficiency and improve patient outcomes, redeployment of personnel into interdisciplinary health care teams is common. The purpose of this project was for pharmacy and nursing students to learn and practice the skills important for this future professional practice. Ten nursing students enrolled at a large state-supported school of nursing and seven clinical pharmacy students from a private, liberal arts university participated in this project. The students met weekly to present joint case conferences to their interprofessional peers, practice negotiation and collaboration skills, and to demonstrate the unique critical thinking processes essential to their professions. Both student groups responded positively to the experience and expressed a new appreciation of the expertise of the other discipline. Implementation of similar collaborative clinical teaching models can prepare pharmacists and nurses for health care practice partnerships.