An innovative interprofessional education program for university medical, nursing, and social work students learning in teams during sessions and visits with geriatric mentors

This curricular resource describes a university interprofessional education program involving small teams composed of one first year medical student, one to two first year masters of social work students, and one to two traditional or accelerated nursing students. Case discussions framed by IPE competencies take place in a facility on campus with activities to be used with senior volunteer mentors. The main objective of using the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice 2011 is because students have limited knowledge of IPE collaborative practice and little exposure to geriatric populations. The format includes a blended learning environment to work in teams and debriefing before and after sessions and visits. Students are given pretest and posttest surveys and short reflective writing assignments throughout and at the end of the program. A majority of the students agree to strongly agree that knowledge of IPE increased, teamwork strengthened, and attitude toward seniors changed.