Seventy-one healthcare students from Qatar University (QU) College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Medicine (CMED) and College of Pharmacy (CPH) recently participated in the inaugural Inter-Professional Education (IPE) exercise on anti-microbial stewardship where they solve complex patient cases.
The students worked together in small teams, listened to a short lecture on antibiotic stewardship by PharmD student Shiema Ahmed and a discussion among team members on their role in anti-microbial stewardship. The session concluded with a case-based patient discussion on pneumonia where the students worked to resolve a case.
QU Vice President for Medical and Health Sciences and CMED Dean Dr Egon Toft said that they bring together its students and faculty through these IPE sessions.
Adopting this interactive team-based learning and engaging problem-based learning method allow the students to reflect on the cases and empower them with critical thinking.’
CPH Dean Dr Mohammad Diab said that the College of Pharmacy takes pride in offering students a wide variety of inter-professional learning opportunities to further develop and enhance their IPE skills alongside their healthcare peers, both in their day-to-day learning, as well as in the future, when they embark on their varied healthcare careers.
We aspire to continue to enrich these relationships, producing highly skilled graduates and future healthcare providers for the State of Qatar.’
CHS Dean Dr Asma Al-Thani said that collaborative events like these build understanding and teamwork among healthcare professionals. Students develop more confidence to embark on discussions with peers.
In practice, all healthcare professionals work alongside each other. Starting to learn together early opens the channel for discussion among peers and reduces human-factor errors that might lead to poor patient outcomes.’
IPE Chair and CPH Assistant Dean Dr Alla El-Awaisi also said that the skills and lessons the students learn from these activities will be reflected in their future collaborations and interactions with others in the healthcare sector. She said that the College of Pharmacy remains committed to integrate IPE experiences within the curriculum to prepare graduates be part of a well-rounded, complex working environment of good teamwork, collaboration and communication.
Qatar University is one of the leading institutions of academic and research excellence in the GCC region. It provides high quality undergraduate and graduate programmes that prepare competent graduates, primed to shape the future of Qatar. The organisation’s strong relationship with Qatari society is reflected in its community service efforts and in its vibrant research portfolio that addresses relevant local and regional challenges, advances national goals towards a knowledge-based economy, and contributes actively to the needs and aspirations of the society.