Description of the Experience
Interprofessional Diabetes Clinic, March 2019, Pacific University, Hillsboro. The population that was seen were people with Diabetes, ranging in age. The team members involved that I was able to observe were Optometry, Dental Hygiene, Psychology, and Audiology. My specific role was to follow the patient thought his different appointments for the day and learn from each profession how a systemic disease can affect multiple parts of the body and various professionals. I also was able to provide the audiological services for our patient which included: otoscopy, tympanometry, otoacoustic emissions, and a four-frequency pure tone screening evaluation. Furthermore, I was part of a team that put together a presentation regarding our patient and presented it to all of the student clinicians that attended the diabetes clinic.
Interprofessional Competencies
After completing this experience, I am able to:
- Values and Ethics: VE1. Place interests of patients and populations at center of interprofessional health care delivery and population health programs and policies, with the goal of promoting health and health equity across the life span.
- Roles and Responsibilities: RR4. Explain the roles and responsibilities of other providers and how the team works together to provide care, promote health, and prevent disease.
- Communication: CC8. Communicate the importance of teamwork in patient-centered care and population health programs and policies.
Reflection
Interprofessional education: “When students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.” (WHO 2010) The Interprofessional Diabetes Clinic was a great opportunity to learn from other student clinicians as well as their precepting professionals. After all the appointments were done we collaborated to make a presentation regarding the patient and reviewed it with all the clinicians and students present. This not only afforded me the opportunity to observe the clinicians in their respected environment but also work alongside them to create a presentation to show how diabetes can affect the different systems.
1. Values and Ethics VE1. Place interests of patients and populations at center of interprofessional health care delivery and population health programs and policies, with the goal of promoting health and health equity across the life span. This competency was clearly outlined throughout the day. Each clinician spoke about how diabetes affects the body and regarding their profession and how it can develop over time. The clinicians educated the patients and other students on the development of the disease and how symptoms will progress over time and how critical it is to see a doctor as symptoms and the disease progress to help combat and prevent further damage to the system.
2. Roles and Responsibilities RR4. Explain the roles and responsibilities of other providers and how the team works together to provide care, promote health, and prevent disease. As we followed our patient from appointment to appointment, each clinician explained in-depth the testing they were doing and how it related to diabetes. They would explain what specific results they were looking for when dealing with this particular population and also what other tests they do. This was helpful to me because I do not have much knowledge of how specific systemic diseases affect other professions and how they act accordingly. For optometry, I learned specifically about how diabetes can affect vision in multiple facets, such as poor vision, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and some other pathologies. Regarding dental hygiene, I learned that people with diabetes are more prone to gum disease and inflammation and infection in the mouth. It was all-important information to know because when you see a patient who has a systemic disease such as diabetes, you should know what kind of questions to ask regarding other physicians they are seeing to make sure you are providing quality care and promoting overall health.
3. Interprofessional Communication CC8. Communicate the importance of teamwork in patient-centered care and population health programs and policies. At the end of the day, when the team came together, we all discussed our cases. We acknowledge the information we learned from other professions and how the professions overlap. We worked diligently as a team to discuss future referrals if we were to see a patient to ensure all of their care needs would be met. This was an experience that allowed me to learn how a systemic disease can affect the body and made me realize how important it is to make appropriate referrals for our patients.