On Oct. 21, uri.edu reported that learners from the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy students teamed up with nursing, medical, and social work peers from other area schools for collaborative patient simulation drills at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School during the biannual Rhode Island Interprofessional Education Day.
Team-Based Care Simulations at Brown University
The event brought together student healthcare workers from across the region. Participants included URI pharmacy student Kai Reddie, Rhode Island College nursing student Erica Kenneally, Brown University medical student Vivian Uzoechi, and RIC social work student Roubina Bastajian. These students formed collaborative teams to discuss patient cases ahead of simulated patient interactions.
During the sessions, students assessed the health of hypothetical patients played by 18 live actors. Each actor participated in six sessions, resulting in a total of 108 unique patient-student interactions.
Every team included a student pharmacist, physician, nurse, and social worker drawn from URI, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Salve Regina University, and Brown. In one standard scenario, the teams met with a patient complaining of a severe cough. Through physical assessments and direct conversations about medications and family life, the students deduced she was suffering from pneumonia alongside potential anxiety stemming from her sons’ troubling behavior.
After leaving the room to confer on a treatment plan, the students decided a course of antibiotics and a cough decongestant were necessary. The social work student provided community resources to help the patient manage her challenges at home.
said Joseph Nardolillo, a URI pharmacy Assistant Professor who acted as the pharmacy lead for the program and organized the third-year professional pharmacy students from URI, noting that, “The goal is to connect students across disciplines and to equip these individuals with the skills to deliver collaborative, team-based care, which improves the health of patients in Rhode Island and beyond,”
Thirty-one facilitators from multiple health disciplines oversaw the exercise. This included 14 pharmacists participating in the URI College of Pharmacy postgraduate teaching program who provided direct feedback during the simulation exercises.
Before the event, students were placed into interprofessional teams across multiple schools and completed preparatory work to establish foundational knowledge of interdisciplinary collaboration and outline the structure of IPE Day. Alongside the patient care simulation, Nardolillo and Brown professor Serita Warrier led students through group exercises focused on patient care approaches, social determinants of health, and access to care.
“At a time when communities across Rhode Island and the country are struggling to access healthcare, we must prepare future professionals to use the full strength of the healthcare team. IPE Day allows students to experience a model of care in which pharmacists, physicians, nurses, social workers, and physical therapists value one another’s expertise, and work together to make healthcare more accessible,” Nardolillo said.
Approximately 500 students participate in at least one IPE Day each year, with most students taking part in two events as part of their standard course curriculum. Since its inception nearly 20 years ago, almost every student in the represented programs has completed an IPE Day.
“IPE Day gives students an opportunity to learn with, from, and about other professions before they begin working alongside one another in the real world,” Nardolillo added. “By bringing students from different professions into the same room for hands-on learning, we help them recognize each profession’s unique strengths, identify meaningful areas of overlap, and experience the collaboration required to deliver high-quality care.”
