Interprofessional education and practice guide: Developing interprofessional community-based clinical experiences

Substantial interprofessional learning opportunities engaging with complex patients must be available to health professional students to prepare them with the necessary knowledge and experiences to function as competent care providers. In community learning experiences, interprofessional teams can target vulnerable populations who face ongoing health disparities to maximize health impact and reduce over utilization of resources such as emergency room visits. Patients from vulnerable populations often present in community settings with multiple comorbidities, which benefit from a team approach focusing on prevention and enhancing the quality of life. The planning team at Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine implemented a real-world community-based clinical experience, incorporating learners from other colleges and universities, professionals from community health centers and patients from homeless shelters to facilitate interprofessional learning over a three-year period. These practical clinical experiences reinforced the communication and leadership skills that are part of the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety or TeamSTEPPSTM evidence-based curriculum, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This guide outlines the steps and lessons learned, through incorporating team-based practice experiences for nursing, medicine, pharmacy, and social work students caring for vulnerable populations within community settings.