Pieces of the Pie; an Innovative Approach to Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Using Digital Whiteboards

Health professions educators have growing interest in leveraging technology to foster engagement and interactive learning. The Duke Interprofessional Education and Care (IPEC) Center developed a scalable, interactive exercise to promote socialization and collaborative learning for participating students. Using a constructivist learning approach, the IPEC team utilised digital whiteboards to promote real time learning among interprofessional teams of students participating in an in-person workshop. The activity models the collaborative nature of interprofessional healthcare.Implementation: The Piece of the Pie (PotPIE) activity was introduced as part of an in-person workshop for over 500 health professions students. Interprofessional teams of students used a digital whiteboard to fill in a pie-shaped diagram with responses to a range of questions based on a patient scenario. Each member of the team responded to questions about their profession-specific values, roles, and responsibilities within a wedge (or “piece”) of the pie. After individually filling their pieces of the pie, the team convened to discuss common and complimentary themes and reflect on the comprehensive and complex care needs of the patient.Evaluation plan: The IPEC team conducted an initial qualitative review of a sample of team responses to the PotPIE exercise to identify common themes. In addition, students and facilitators offered feedback on the PotPIE exercise through post-workshop surveys and facilitator debriefing discussions.Outcome(s) and significance: Initial review of whiteboards identified overarching themes, including participants’ emerging sense of professional and interprofessional identity. This has prompted plans for a more detailed qualitative analysis. Feedback from students and facilitators included the PotPIE’s strengths, weaknesses, ease of use, visual representation, and value in the larger workshop. The PotPIE showed promise as an introductory interactive activity for interprofessional communication and learning. Peer participants learned from each other about the distinctive roles and responsibilities of various health professions, practiced interprofessional communication setting the stage for future collaboration and teamwork.