Jody Thompson: Success for the Nation's First Statewide Interprofessional Mini-Course and Pandemic Simulation

Posted by Jody Thompson on Nov 30, 2012

The IPEP Pandemic Flu exercise has been happening yearly since 2008, but for the first time this year the four-week mini-course included students and faculty from all three state universities--University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. The mini-course culminated with a simulated pandemic emergency with more than 500 students and over 60 facilitators, staff and volunteers gathering on November 27^th, 2012 for the Nation's first statewide interprofessional education simulation, Pandemic Flu: An Exercise in Disaster Preparedness.

The Pandemic Flu mini-course, discussed in the November 16^th blog post, Pandemic Flu: Interprofessional Education Goes Statewide in Arizona, blends together four weeks of pre and post-learning delivered through the Pandemic Flu course website with a live interprofessional teamwork experience--a simulated pandemic emergency. 

Going statewide

As the simulation began on the Arizona Health Sciences Center campus in Tucson, students reported to their assigned rooms, which represented eight different sites in Arizona. The eighth site, representing Phoenix, was on the Biomedical Campus in Phoenix. For the first time ever, the interprofessional student teams working through pandemic scenarios included students from colleges and programs at all three state universities:

• University of Arizona College of Medicine -- Tucson and Phoenix campus

• University of Arizona College of Nursing -- Tucson and Phoenix campus

• University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health -- Tucson and Phoenix campus

• Arizona State University School of Social Work -- Tucson and Phoenix campus

• University of Arizona College of Pharmacy -- Tucson and Phoenix campus

• University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law -- Tucson campus

• Northern Arizona University Department of Physician Assistant Studies -- Phoenix campus

Shortly before the activity opened with a keynote, College of Nursing student Pamela Fick was asked about her expectations for the simulation and noted, "I am very curious how the simulation will work."

Lights, camera, action!

Dr. Richard Carmona, 17^th Surgeon General of the United States, president of the non-profit Canyon Ranch Institute and Distinguished Professor at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, kicked things off with an engaging keynote focusing on preparation and collaboration among all in the health care and social work fields. He emphasized the importance of teamwork and noted, "There should always be cautious paranoia"testing yourself and never be complacent.  We must be interdependent on one another." 

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