Providing high-quality, patient-centered care as members of a healthcare team is inherent to PA practice.  As such, preparing our students to be desired, effective members of these teams should be an important focus of our curricular efforts.  Designing meaningful, intentional interprofessional education (IPE) activities and interactions where PA students can learn from and with those in other disciplines accomplishes so much more than simply checking a box to show compliance with ARC Standards.  For programs at larger institutions or academic medical centers with multiple other health disciplines and abundant resources, this can be achieved much more efficiently than for programs in smaller, less discipline diverse institutions.  While traditional classroom based IPE activities like case study exercises or shared curricular components serve a purpose, thinking outside the box to provide interactive IPE experiences can open many doors for programs regardless of logistical and demographic constraints.   

Simulations

Engaging PA students in both clinically and non-clinically based simulation activities with students from other clinical and non-clinical support professions (Education, Social Work, Criminal Justice, Counseling, Nutrition, Public Health) provides more robust viewpoints and contributions to discussions and debriefs, broadening the lens of the human experience and the provision of holistic care.  Activities such as smaller-scale faculty created scenarios in a simulation lab, or larger campus-wide activities such as a mass casualty incident or poverty simulation (https://www.povertysimulation.net/about/) are great examples of where to start.  

Community events 

Participate with other disciplines from your own or neighboring institutions at established events to serve your local community.  Bringing students from multiple professions together at a senior citizen expo with a focus on fall prevention, or a teddy bear clinic focusing on health and wellness at a children’s themed event are engaging ways to allow opportunities for students to see how each discipline can offer a different perspective to a shared patient issue as well as providing a chance to watch their future colleagues interact with “patients” in real-time.  These activities also allow our students to serve as the face of the profession and educate the public about PAs!

Service Learning Opportunities

Partnering with students outside of the PA discipline for service learning opportunities both on and off campus can provide a more informal environment to students to interact and get to know one another while working toward a common altruistic goal.  The relationships that develop in these more relaxed settings can deepen the engagement and outcomes of future formal activities like traditional classroom IPE case studies and classes.

Our students will benefit from activities of many varieties that require them to be part of a larger whole.  But the benefit of innovative IPE activities is not limited to just our students, they have the added bonus of encouraging interdepartmental collaboration among faculty and can provide nice additions to P&T portfolios.