Interprofessional Conference and Synthesis Case with Respiratory Therapy and Medical Students

Faculty/Staff Leader Summary

First-year medical students are introduced to a case with objectives to work through individually over a week’s time. For the respiratory module, the case is a 12-year-old male with an asthma exacerbation. On Friday, they attend a team case conference in which they apply knowledge learned that week. Teams of approximately 16 students meet in one classroom with a team facilitator, a faculty physician within UT Health, providing guidance to the discussion. In addition, approximately 10-14 respiratory care students are dispersed into different classrooms to work through the case with the medical students and provide their input from the perspective of a respiratory care therapist.

Friday case objectives include 1) identify laboratory derangements related to asthma and asthma medications and explain the mechanism behind the derangements; 2) formulate a strategy for discussing asthma education (asthma action plan, correct inhaler technique, peak flow monitoring) with an adolescent patient and family members; 3) formulate an asthma action plan for a patient who was recently treated for an acute asthma exacerbation.

This case runs for approximately 1.5 hrs. After the case is complete, all medical students and respiratory care students regroup in the lecture hall where the respiratory care students present on their healthcare role and asthma device usage.

IPEC Competency Domain(s)
Teams & Teamwork

IPEC Sub-Competencies Targeted
TT2: Appreciate team members’ diverse experiences, expertise, cultures, positions, power, and roles towards improving team function.
TT3: Practice team reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
TT9: Operate from a shared framework that supports resiliency, well-being, safety, and efficacy.
TT10: Discuss organizational structures, policies, practices, resources, access to information, and timing issues that impact the effectiveness of the team.