Development of an interprofessional student teaching simulation in team communication skills

Interprofessional education (IPE) has become increasingly the object of focus in undergraduate medical education. Evidence supports the promotion of teamwork and effective communication to improve patient safety and outcomes. Educators are challenged to find meaningful ways to teach these skills to students and there are several barriers that must be addressed to meet this challenge. Educators must work outside of well-established silos within the medical education community to bring learners from various disciplines together. In addition, they must create curriculum that engages all participants and is relevant to the modern learner. Simulation creates a safe, low stress environment in which participants may practice communication and teamwork without risk to themselves or, more importantly, patients. By practicing a high stress, high stakes scenario in the low risk environment of the simulator, learners from various disciplines are able practice these skills in a meaningful way. Cardiac arrest is an example of a common, high impact occurrence that is particularly amenable to interprofessional team based simulation training exercises. We describe the development of an interprofessional student course teaching communication and teamwork culminating in a team run cardiac arrest simulation exercise. This course was designed to use a blended learning model utilizing both pre-course online materials available to participants, a team training exercise utilizing high-fidelity simulation and team debrief with formative assessment. This blended model addressed the challenge of coordinating multiple learners from multiple colleges and schedules.