On Feb. 28, students from Shenandoah University’s Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies programs, as well as students from the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy and the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing came together to compete in the university’s first-ever Inter-professional Case Competition.
Eight teams of three to four students each, representing various disciplines, presented their root cause analysis of a complicated stroke case that was written by faculty at the University of Minnesota. Faculty mentors, division directors and fellow students came to support their teams at Saturday’s event. The case used during Shenandoah’s competition will also be used for the 2015 CLARION National Case Competition, to be held at The University of Minnesota, from Friday, April 17, through Saturday, April 18.
With less than four weeks to conduct their analysis, the health professions, pharmacy and nursing students were both professional and polished in their presentations. Each team showed great promise, which made final decisions by the judging panel difficult, to say the least. Every team and its members should be congratulated for their participation and performance.
Internal judges for the competition included Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Pharmacy Practice Penny Shelton, Pharm.D.; Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management Seth Chatfield, Ph.D.; and School of Health Professions Dean Timothy Ford, Ph.D.
Local community members Cheryl Dumont, Ph.D., RN, CRNI, director of nursing research and the Vascular Access Team at Winchester Medical Center, and Charles Devine, M.D., health director of the Lord Fairfax Health District, rounded out the panel of judges. The judges were extremely impressed and after considerable deliberation, selected the winning team.
Although all presentations were excellent, the winning team gave a truly outstanding presentation, both knowledgeable and informative. Shenandoah University’s Inter-professional Education (IPE) Committee warmly congratulates winning team members second-year physical therapy student Krista Eskey, second-year occupational therapy student Sarah Marshall and second-year physician assistant studies student Rebekah Payne. Together with a fourth team member who has yet to be selected, these students will represent Shenandoah University at the University of Minnesota competition in April.
While the winning team will receive a cash award and compete in the national competition, all student participants will receive a certificate of appreciation for their hard work.
“This competition provides a unique experience that will help students in their professional lives, where health care decisions invariably need multiple perspectives and disciplines to provide the best quality and continuity of care,” said Dr. Ford. “The competition would not have been possible without the selfless dedication of the IPE committee, chaired by Joseli Hagemann, the faculty mentors, my fellow judges panel members and of course the students themselves.”
