IPER 7 Posters
Leveraging Innovation & Telehealth to Address Rural Access to Care
Alonzo, J., Zhong, L., Lee, S., Saldivar, I., Tomaszewski, L., & Ozmetin, J.
Rural Access to Health is Diminishing
Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures.
- In 2018-2019, 7 TX rural hospitals partially or completely closed, with no plan to reopen
- Loss of rural hospitals causes loss of indigent care, specialty care, tax revenue, employment, & shrinking economy.
-Delays in treatment
-Increased morbidity & mortality
-Transportation issues
-Lack of medical, nursing, support services
- In Milam County, Texas, 2 rural hospitals were lost in 2018-2019. No urgent or emergent care is available in the county. No access to hospital for 30-40 miles in any direction.
- Research Question: What sustainable innovative care model can be provided to improve access to care?
- The Texas A&M/OnMedHealthCare Station provides key technological advancements to address barriers to care experienced by rural communities. Telemedicine via phone/computer does not provide the clinician with clinical markers and does not have a “hands-on” feel for the patient.
Creating a ‘Hub’ for Interprofessional Education & Patient Care
Jebson, L.
Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is a care delivery approach that seeks to improve health care outcomes and the patient experience while simultaneously decreasing health care costs This team based approach leverages the clinical and academic expertise of multiple schools and colleges within a health science center. In order to support interprofessional education and collaborative practice, a multi purpose facility is ideal. Hence, the development of a ‘hub’ was conceived in support of our tripartite mission.
A case report: using TBLs to create collaborative, experiential, transformative interprofessional learning (IPL) experiences for faculty and students, with relevance to COVID.
Li, Y., Zhang, J., Varadarajan, R., Loving, R., McMurray, J., Hagen, A., Sears, N., Zawieja, D., Dickey, B., Novak, D., & Murray, I.
Team-based learning (TBL) activities are increasingly used in medical education, and are ideal for collaborative, transformative interprofessional learning (IPL) experiences for faculty and students. The EnMed respiratory course TBLs were restructured using hands-on devices to convert abstract cognitive knowledge into demonstratable observable skills. This involved collaboration between students, engineers, basic scientists, educators, and clinicians, and included skills relevant to COVID diagnosis.
Investigating Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes Toward Care of Sexual and Gender Minorities Among Health Professions Students: A Cross Sectional Survey at Texas A&M Health
Pittman, A., Kabani, F., Han, G., Elenwa, F., & Bustamante, J.
In 2011, the National Academies highlighted several key factors contributing to health disparities in sexual and gender minorities (SGM). Lack of provider education was cited as one of these key issues in the report. This gap in provider education has since been noted by professional organizations across many health professions. A 2020 assessment of current SGM health curriculum at TAMU Health indicated consistency with literature: significant gaps across the colleges, ranging from zero (0) to four contact hours across all colleges. Health science centers are being urged to provide interprofessional SGM health education. Health professions schools across the country are not meeting this need. There are only a handful of national health education centers that focus on LGBTIQ+ needs. The need for improved SGM health education in Texas is significant. An estimated 4.1% of Texas residents identify as LGBTIQ+, which accounts for over one million Texans. Texas has the second-largest population of transgender residents in the US. One of the first steps in the plan to develop an interprofessional SGM health curriculum is to conduct a needs assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to survey students at Texas A&M Health on their knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards care for SGM-identifying clients.