The IPC Symphony Orchestra

It has really been too long between blogs. I've been visiting with clinical educators and their associates throughout Ontario. There are so many interesting IPC initiatives and activities underway! I hope this blog will help us to share these initiatives as we build our interprofessional network in health care.

In understanding IPC in the daily lives of health care professionals, a recent IPC participant shared the view that practising IPC is like similar to the performance of an orchestra. When Vivaldi is featured, the string section is likely to hold a prominent place in the concert. In the performance, there may be a solo for the first violin; there will also be times when the first violin is supported by the second. In the event that Bach is the featured composer, the section of prominence may be very different. When I think of Bach, my image draws up the heavy rhythms that unlie the music and, during such a performance, I might be quite drawn to the work of the percussion section.

Interprofessional collaboration is about leveraging the knowledge and skills of all health disciplines in achieving positive outcomes for patients. For many patients, the expertise of Medical Laboratory Scientists will support diagnosis (approximately 80% of patient diagnosis is generated by the work of our laboratory colleagues). Depending on diagnosis, any number of health care professionals may have a prominent role on the patient's path to recovery... violins for Vivaldi; percussion for Bach.

Share the metaphor that best describes your understanding of IPC! Take the IPC metaphor poll and/or leave your ideas in the comment box.

About Learning Styles

Recently, an IPC participant shared the following presentation with me and, I, in turn would like to share it with you. The presentation Animal School highlights many of the ideas that we need to remember about learning styles. We are all made up of a collection of skills that are strong, with some skills that are not so strong. Always teach to the strengths.

Enjoy!
http://www.poac-nova.org/news_uploads/907/animal_school.swf

Invitation to Pot Luck

There are many interesing things to be said about potluck dinners. Until this week, I had not made the connection between potluck dinners and team performances. Good potluck dinners need a bit of organization. Without the organization, potluck dinners may result in the presence of many desserts and few entrees. Yet, with someone providing some structure, potluck attendees can use their talents and creativity to make a significant positive contribution to the table as well as to the ambiance. Food for thought - yes, pun intended.

Developing a Strong Foundation

Today we focused on building a common lexicon for IPE and IPC as well as challenging ourselves to reflect on our perceptions of roles, stereotypes, and power in health care settings. There were many interesting discussions.

I would like to share one reflection on today's materials. In the introductory module, we considered the D'Amour & Oandason (2005) Evolving Framework model of IPE and IPC. In the presentation of the modules, many participants have commented on the comprehensiveness of the model. Today, there were reflections on the model that were somewhat different. The reflections included commentary on how the D'Amour & Oandason (2005) model reflects the dynamic workplace that characterizes health care professions as well as the inherent competing demands. I had not yet considered the model from these perpectives and found it interesting to take these alternative perspectives. I'm not sure if this was part of the point of the model. Regardless, the model clearly speaks to peoples' experiences which is of primary importance.

By Way of Introduction

Interprofessional Collaboration... IPC... learning from, with, and about one another. I'm on my way to Ottawa to facilitate such learning with our clinical partners in health care education. I'm looking forward to it and I have a train ride during which I can develop this blog. This is my second road trip as a Professional Practice Educator for The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences in Toronto, Canada.

Having a blog seemed necessary last week when I visited Sudbury Ontario to deliver IPC certificate program to a wide range of health care professionals (126 participants over 6 modules over 3 days). It was a very energizing week - I learned so much and I believe that others did as well. I found myself wanting to share my days with my Michener colleagues - there were so many ideas that I wanted to ensure they made their way home with me. So, for this trip, we have the blog.

The 3-day intensive presentation of the IPC modules is interesting... a bit like an immersion program. Many participants complete the modules during this 3-day period and, since we spend so much time together, we build an IPC leadership team together. In Sudbury, we had a spectacular discussion about team performance. I'm still mulling it over in my mind.

I'm not so sure about blog etiquette but I'm thinking that this might be enough introductory content. There will be more to follow over the next several days.