Malik Abdur-Razzaq, DHEd, SHM, ’11, served in 2013 as a peer reviewer for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), MedEdPORTAL publications, a program of the AAMC.

It’s been a hallmark year for interprofessional education (IPE) at ATSU. An important initiative interwoven throughout all University programs, IPE is an essential step in preparing collaborative, practice-ready health professionals who have learned about, from, and with each other to provide and promote a team approach to patient care and improved patient health outcomes.

“Institutionally, we’re where most people are—trying to work out how to make [IPE] a reality,” said Interim Director of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Barbara Maxwell, PT, DPT, ’06, MSc, Cert THE.

“People think it’s about getting people in class together, and it’s not,” Dr. Maxwell continued. “It’s about giving students opportunities to learn from and about each other—teaching students what each profession brings to the table so that they begin to respect each other’s professions and in that moment of patient care they begin to communicate and work collaboratively in teams for the sake of the patients they serve.”

The past year has yielded numerous educational, research and scholarship, clinical practice, and service learning opportunities across all ATSU schools and in the community. Students are gaining practical experience and building relationships across healthcare professions through efforts like these:

1. Clarion National Case Competition

An interdisciplinary team of students competed in the Clarion Competition, an annual national event sponsored by the University of Minnesota. The competition requires interprofessional teams of four students to conduct a root-cause analysis of a sentinel health event.

Suzie Aparicio, AT, ’14; Sarah Usher, D3; Kenyon McAferty, OMS I; and Erica Brueggen, OMS III, represented the University in Minneapolis in April. The team focused on issues surrounding the high level of 30-day hospital readmissions for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although the team did not place, students found it to be an incredible learning experience.

“Clarion provided me with an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in other ATSU programs and develop solutions for the most pressing concerns in healthcare,” Usher said. “I have made lifetime friends and increased my awareness of the importance of interprofessional collaboration needed to advance the quality and consistency of patient care.”

2. Interprofessional Education Collaborative Case Competition (IPE-CCC)

At the inaugural IPE-CCC last December, students shared interdisciplinary teamwork experiences. Seven interdisciplinary teams of students representing nine programs from ATSU’s Arizona and Missouri campuses and Arizona’s Grand Canyon University (GCU) nursing program participated. Each team prepared and presented an analysis of the same hypothetical case and presented their findings and recommendations for enhanced collaboration to a panel of judges representing leaders from various disciplines within the healthcare programs.

“Students are the driving force,” said ATSU Board of Trustees Chair Clyde H. Evans, PhD. “At the grassroots level, you need students and faculty who believe in interprofessional education.”

The competition was an initiative driven by the Student Committee on Interprofessional Education led by Adam Bennett, third-year dental and public health – dental emphasis student, and Rochelle Zangen, PA, ’13, with hopes that it will develop into a national competition represented by many universities.

“The competition introduced the basics of collaborative care and some of the real-world difficulties that interprofessional teams encounter,” said Bennett, who won second place in the national student research competition at the American Dental Education Association Annual Session in Seattle in March for his presentation “A Didactic Module to Address Emerging CODA Standards and Overcome Common Challenges to IPE Integration.”

Prizes were awarded to the top three teams at IPE-CCC. The William McKinney Award for first place went to (l-r) Caroline Lindsey, AuD, ’16; Rebecca Tansey, D2; Stephen Leonard, PT, ’14; and Mariam Ter-Stepanian, OMS II.
Photo credit: Mark Skalny Photography

3. Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Symposium (IBRS)

Last September, faculty, staff, and students presented oral and poster presentations on the Missouri campus at the fourth-annual IBRS, hosted by the A.T. Still Research Institute (SRI) and co-sponsored by ATSU and Truman.

Nearly 30 poster presentations by participants from KCOM, SOMA, and Truman displayed current research on topics ranging from developmental disorders to biomedical technology. For the first time, research was also presented by faculty and students from regional institutions including University of Missouri-Columbia, Monmouth College, and University of Missouri-St. Louis.

“The symposium is a wonderful opportunity to bring together students and faculty not only from both ATSU campuses and Truman, but from other undergraduate colleges in the Midwest to share their research activities and presentations. It is a great collaborative effort and chance to learn,” said KCOM Dean Margaret Wilson, DO, ’82.

Outstanding Research Poster Awards were presented to Truman biology major Lisa Clark and KCOM biomed student Talon Anderson at IBRS. Pictured l-r: Neil Sargentini, PhD, chair, microbiology & immunology; Anderson; Clark; and Dr. Degenhardt.

Every school across ATSU continues to implement IPE into its curriculum—part of ATSU’s strategic plan.

At KCOM, in addition to its The Complete DOctor course and House Calls program, Family Medicine is working to develop a curriculum that includes collaboration with the local community health clinic system to provide a longitudinal experience in a primary care medical home. KCOM is also working with Truman’s nursing program to develop interprofessional standardized patient and human patient simulator experiences. Many more plans to incorporate interprofessional opportunities will unfold when the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (pending accreditation) opens its doors on the Missouri campus.

According to SHM Interim Dean Don Altman, DDS, DHSc, MPH, MBA, MA, the School is planning and developing online education courses that will bring students from its different programs together in the virtual classroom to discuss contemporary topics such as bioethics and working as a team in a community setting.

“The integration of IPE within ATSU’s strategic plan is vital to student learning, intrinsic to ATSU’s mission, and yields positive results in terms of patients’ healthcare outcomes,” said ATSU President Craig M. Phelps, DO, ’84.

ATSU’s mission and vision, serving the underserved and attending to the healthcare needs of the whole person, set it apart from the competition and complement its ability to successfully implement IPE.

ASDOH students provide oral healthcare in Tanzania

To be born with xeroderma pigmentosa (XP) or albinism is not uncommon for a child in Tanzania. Both are inherited conditions, and XP can cause skin and oral cancer to develop before age 5. But to be born with either of these conditions is to be culturally shunned by the community.

Patients in the dental clinic included blind and albino children.

For 10 days last July, through a partnership with K2 Adventures Foundation, ASDOH students provided oral healthcare for these special needs children at Mwereni Integrated School for the Blind in Moshi, Tanzania, a town near Mt. Kilimanjaro. K2 Adventures Foundation, an organization that provides educational and medical services, support, and funds to those with special needs and life-changing medical circumstances, offers medical and dental clinics at the school.

At the dental clinic, third- and fourth-year students, accompanied by an adjunct faculty advisor, provided care to hundreds of children, including some orphans who live at the school to keep them safe from witch doctors who believe that children with albinism are cursed.

“For most of these children, whose ages range from 5-18, it was the first time they had ever seen a dentist,” said Abbas Fazel, DDS, adjunct faculty advisor.

Erin Aying, Sarah Usher, Dr. Abbas Fazel, Nadia Fazel, Nipa Patel, and Abrahim Caroci

Since one of the major oral health problems in the region is dental fluorosis, an exposure to high concentrations of fluoride during tooth development, most of the students’ work involved fillings and extractions.

One student, Sarah Usher, D3, was accompanied by her husband, Dustin, an ITS support specialist at ATSU. He fixed donated computers to make them usable for children at the school.

“We wanted to enrich their whole lives, not just their healthcare,” Sarah said. “Overall, it was an enriching experience that touched our hearts much more than we could ever touch them with a toothbrush.”

Jae Hyun Park, DMD, MSD, MS, PhD, director of the postgraduate orthodontic program at A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health, recently co-authored the book, Molar protraction: Orthodontic substitution of missing posterior teeth (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482698757).

The new book covers various situations where posterior teeth are missing. Dr. Park believes it will be helpful not only for orthodontists but also useful for general dentists and specialists because it presents valuable dental treatment options in combination with orthodontic treatment.

Last April, Dr. Park also published a book entitled, Computed Tomography: New research (https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=37917). He was the sole editor of the book.

The Arizona campus ATSU service-award celebration will be held in Saguaro A and B on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Salad and pizza luncheon will be provided. You are encouraged to come and show your support for those individuals who have met significant milestones in their employment with ATSU.

See you there!

Congratulations to Darien Belluomini for receiving the Arizona Campus Employee Excellence Award for the first quarter of 2013. Belluomini is the senior administrative assistant in the Arizona School of Health Sciences’ Dean’s Office. He was recognized for his hard work and excellence by Dr. Jim Farris, chair of the Physical Therapy Department.

Dr. Farris stated “Darien’s organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail, untiring efforts, and high level of self-directed initiative has been invaluable throughout the accreditation process. He went above and beyond to ensure the continued viability of the DPT program while still meeting the demands of his regular duties.”

Darien received a photo with President Phelps and a $50 check.

We had the chance to monkey around with Devin Nelson, DI, former mascot for the Phoenix Suns. Here’s what he had to say about this truly once-in-a-lifetime experience as The Gorilla. (more…)

Marshall L. Chasin, AuD, ’03, is banging the drum on hearing loss prevention among musicians. A mathematics and linguistics major turned audiologist, Dr. Chasin has spent nearly 30 years in the profession. With self-proclaimed tenacity, he holds numerous faculty appointments, is a weekly blogger, and is the author of six books. His 1996 book, “Musicians and the Prevention of Hearing Loss,” changed many audiologists’ tune on the topic. (more…)

It’s comforting to know your doctor understands exactly what you’re going through. That’s why Wilbur Freeman III, OMS II, decided to go back to school even though he loved his career as a biomedical engineer. (more…)

When it comes to women’s wellness, Amber French, DO, FACOOG, ’00, is one smart cookie. A self-proclaimed “foody,” she’s changing the rules of healthy eating and weight loss, becoming the apple of her patients’ eyes. (more…)