Competence, Confidence, and Psychological Safety: Designing and Delivering Faculty Development for Debriefing Interprofessional Simulations Containing Microaggressions

Microaggressions in healthcare perpetuate health disparities, diminish outcomes, and negatively influence patient, provider, and team relationships. To effectively prepare health professionals to provide equitable care, academic institutions must integrate this theme interprofessionally and prepare faculty to facilitate the content. In 2022, our institution introduced a simulation containing microaggressions into mandatory IPE learning activities. Faculty were provided basic guides to facilitate debriefings. Post-simulation feedback from students and faculty indicated concerns about inconsistencies in faculty competence and confidence debriefing these scenarios. In response, we launched a multi-phase quality improvement faculty development initiative to improve the simulation debriefings, starting with a needs assessment and culminating in mandatory debriefing training for all interprofessional education instructors. The training aimed to improve the quality and safety of interprofessional student learning and align with our institution’s commitment to evidence-based, anti-oppressive learning experiences.

Intervention: A needs assessment was completed with 42 interprofessional faculty who co-taught the interprofessional course in 2022 and 2023. Results were synthesized, and simulation best practices and consultation with our JEDI Office were reviewed. Learning objectives were created, guiding the design of a mandatory 3-hour faculty training targeting best practices in debriefing scenarios containing microaggressions.

Evaluation plan: To assess changes in faculty competence and confidence, our team employed pre- and post- training surveys and a final post-activity survey. Data and end-of-semester course evaluations were analyzed to evaluate outcomes.

Outcomes and Significance: 100% of faculty respondents agreed or strongly agreed that this training increased both their confidence and competence in debriefing interprofessional simulations containing microaggressions.

Incorporating meaningful discussions about microaggressions into interprofessional learning activities fosters a more inclusive, empathetic, and effective healthcare environment. When faculty are intentionally trained to lead health equity conversations, learners develop skills to mitigate biases, improve team dynamics, attend to the social determinants of health, and provide quality patient care.