Shaping Our Medical Education Journey - College of Medicine ...

Our Winning Team
Setting an Example for
Interprofessionalism at its Best!
An Interprofessional Problem-based
Learning (iPBL) faculty leadership team
has been named winner of the prestigious
Alan Blizzard Award on behalf of the
Society for Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education (STLHE). Established
to encourage, identify, and publicly
recognize those whose exemplary
collaboration in university teaching
enhances student learning, the Award
seeks to make visible and disseminate
scholarship of teaching and learning,
based on values and practices
of collaborative teaching.
How did they do it? In 2004-05,
collaboration between the School of
Physical Therapy and the College of
Medicine grew into the “Interprofessional
Problem-Based Learning (iPBL) Project”
boasting many PBL modules for hundreds
and hundreds of students from seven
different programs and three postsecondary
educational institutions.
Pharmacy students came on board in
2005-06. A new iPBL case on Palliative
Care was developed in 2006-07, and
representatives from Nursing and
Nutrition also joined in. Buoyed by
positive feedback from students and
tutors, Clinical Psychology and Social
Work accepted the invitation to
participate in 2007.
Close and collegial collaboration has been
essential in case development, module
scheduling, program evaluation, research,
and logistics for the team. Each time a
new program joins the Multi iPBL project,
faculty members are invited to modify the
cases to make them relevant to students
from their program. The Team strives to
demonstrate flexibility and understanding
in accommodating the needs and
perspectives of “new-comers.” Finding
times for iPBL to fit with diverse program
schedules takes great perseverance.
The Team has adopted an approach to
democratic decision making, allowing
members to come to solutions, including
in one case where time conflicts seemed
irresolvable. The logistical challenges of
mounting each iPBL module continue
to be significant. The Team depends on
each other for timely communication and
cooperation in planning the modules,
recruiting tutors, forwarding class lists,
informing students, finalizing research
instruments, attending meetings,
managing funds, and reviewing cases.
Since 2004, the steady growth and
development of the iPBL Project Team
and the work they have accomplished
together has been tremendous. The
group continues to celebrate successes,
and its members remain good friends
and colleagues. Not a single member or
program has been lost from the project.
The values of the Team include friendly
SCHOOl OF PHySICAl THERAPy
Back row (L to R): Jane Cassidy (Pharmacy, U of S), Nora McKee (Medicine, U of S), Doreen Walker (Nutrition, U of S )
2nd row from top row (L to R): Pat Wall (Nursing, U of S), Darlene Scott (Nursing, SIAST), Arlis McQuarrie (Physical Therapy, U of S)
3rd row from top row (L to R): Krista Trinder, Marcel D’Eon (Educational Support and Development, Medicine, U of S)
2nd step up from bottom: Erin Beckwell (Social Work, U of Regina)
Bottom right corner: Peggy Proctor (Physical Therapy, U of S)
Missing from photo: Megan O’Connell (Clinical Psychology, Arts and Science, U of S), Peggy MacLeod (Nursing, U of S)
and open communication; egalitarian
perspective where academic credentials
do not privilege power; consensus-based
decision-making; and shared leadership.
Our winning team will be granted the
Award at the national STLHE conference
being held in Saskatoon at the University
of Saskatchewan, June 15-18, 2011,
where they will make a formal public
presentation during the plenary. They
will also be guests of honour at a
reception held to celebrate their
exemplary collaboration. The team’s
Alan Blizzard Award paper describing the
collaborative project will be disseminated
by STLHE in printed form and on the
STLHE website. n
Congr atulations!
University of Saskatchewan • College of Medicine C O M M U N I Q U É 9