Walking in Another's Shoes- What Can We Learn from Inter-professional Role Play in Simulation

What can schools offer pre-clinical medical students in simulation when true inter-professional activities are not available on their training site?Goals, objectives, and purpose: Emphasis during simulations was to define the roles of professions other than medicine and to allow students to gain insight into the responsibilities of nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists and other professions during an emergency situation.Methods/Methodology: First semester, second year osteopathic medical students responded to an anonymous REDCap survey at the end of the fall semester regarding three high fidelity simulations that all included IPE role play. Open-ended questions were designed to ask students to reflect on what they learned in the role play of another profession.Results/Findings: Student themes:

Professionals like nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and family members play complementary roles in patient management, and collaboration between them ensures that the patient receives the best possible care.

Increased respect and appreciation for the complexity of roles beyond their own. Whether it was a pharmacist understanding the scope of an RT's duties, or a nurse recognizing the expertise a pharmacist brings to patient care, these exercises helped people see how each role contributes to the larger goal of patient health.

Several people mentioned how playing the role of a family member gave them new empathy for those who experience intense emotional stress during medical crises.Conclusions, implications, and/or curiosities: Inter-professional simulation training for medical students is not available at all medical campuses. We believe that in the interim, the assignment of role play improves understanding of the basic roles of other health professions . While we understand that role play will never replace the actual IPE experience of multiple professions- it can give pre-clinical students a very early understanding of other health care roles