On January 12, 2015, nearly 600 University of British Columbia (UBC) pharmacy, medicine, nursing and nurse practitioner students at the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, University of Victoria, and University of Northern BC, will participate in the fourth annual Interprofessional Medication Reconciliation Event (IP MedRec).
Medication reconciliation is a formal process by which members of a patient’s multidisciplinary health care team collaborate to identify a complete list of medications that patient is taking, as they proceed through admission, transfer and discharge. Medication reconciliation has been shown to reduce medication errors and improve patient safety.
For the first time, medicine and nursing students from the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBC-O) Southern Medication Program in Kelowna, B.C., will participate in the event, along with UBC-Vancouver nurse practitioner students. An additional ten community and hospital pharmacists and UBC alumni will also participate in sites across Victoria, Prince George and Kelowna.
“As experienced registered nurses, graduate nurse practitioner students are keenly aware that interprofessional collaboration improves patient care outcomes,” say Fairleth McCuaig, coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at UBC School of Nursing. “The Interprofessional Medication Reconciliation Event not only benefits students in their learning, but also the patients who they will care for in the future.”
To further build on the success of previous years, the 2015 event will include a number of revisions to the curriculum. Firstly, students will benefit from additional time to work on the interactive case study, and representatives of each profession will lead an enhanced orientation session. Student engagement will be further encouraged by way of expanded online resources, multiple video clips and the use of the Poll Everywhere live audience participation application.
“Medication Reconciliation provides a unique opportunity for collaboration between physicians, pharmacists and nurses to provide optimal care and promote patient safety,” says Dr. Mark Fok, clinical instructor, UBC Faculty of Medicine. “We hope that teaching these foundations to trainees will set a framework for future collaborative care.”
UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty members Dr. Arun Verma, instructor; Dr. Judith Soon, assistant professor; and Lynda Eccott, senior instructor have been instrumental in enhancing the practical clinical relevance of the team-based activity. At the conclusion of the 2015 event, over 1,420 senior pharmacy, medicine, nurse and nursing/nurse practitioner students, along with recently graduated pharmacists, will have participated in this unique multidisciplinary learning experience.
“Our intent is that as these students graduate and move into clinical practice, they will become advocates for medication reconciliation as a routine standard of patient care, both in acute and community settings,” says Dr. Soon.
The 2015 event is co-coordinated by UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty members Drs. Judith Soon, Arun Verma, and Ms. Lynda Eccott; and UBC Faculty of Medicine, Drs. Linlea Armstrong and Mark Fok. Facilitation at the distributed sites will be provided by Dan Martinusen (Vancouver Island Health Authority) and Dr. Fraser Black (Island Medical Program), Aleisha Thornhill and Robert Pammett (Northern Health Authority) and Dr. Keri Closson (Northern Medical Program) as well as Dr. Katharine Smart (Southern Medical Program). Also involved are Nancy Blatchford and Deborah Phillips.
Image: Students from Medicine, Nursing and Pharmaceutical Sciences collaborate at the 2013 IP Med Rec event.