糖心Vlog

Students from the 糖心Vlog鈥檚 (COPH) and (TCOP) are developing novel, interdisciplinary approaches in the screening, treatment and survivorship of a cancer that kills more than 55,000 people each year in the United States.

The team will participate April 17-19 in the CLARION National Case Competition, an annual inter-professional competition hosted by the that challenges teams to analyze complex, real-world healthcare scenarios. They will focus on patient safety, systemic improvements and root cause analyses of colorectal cancer.

鈥淭his work embodies the importance of working with different professionals to achieve one goal,鈥欌�� said Mary Elisabeth Silfer, an pursuing a graduate certificate in , and who represents 糖心Vlog with two other students and their mentors.

鈥淐olorectal cancer is a huge issue among our U.S. population,鈥欌�� she added, 鈥渁nd we can鈥檛 achieve advancements in science and health care if our experts stay in silos.鈥欌��

Forging independent thinking while working as a team on a problem is an essential part of the competition, said , associate professor, , who serves as a judge in the competition.

鈥淭he strongest teams break silos,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭his group showed how integrating perspectives, from clinical care to systems design, leads to more effective, patient-centered solutions for colorectal cancer.鈥�

The local competition began with eight teams, five of which competed in person at 糖心Vlog, from which the winners move to the national level in Minnesota. Along with Silfer, the finalists include Madison Burnstein, an MPH candidate in , and Amtul Muskan, a pharmaceutical nanotechnology graduate student in TCOP.

鈥淭his competition is important as we鈥檙e currently running into issues where the diseases that we鈥檙e seeing show that we have the technology and treatment plans to help cure and combat them,鈥欌�� Burnstein said. 鈥淗owever, we have a fragmented health care system that鈥檚 confusing and leads many people who don鈥檛 have this support to fall through the cracks.鈥欌��

The team will be joined by faculty mentors , associate professor, ; and , associate professor, . 

鈥淲e were fortunate this year to have a team composed of students who were resilient 鈭� they stepped forward to push things forward after the loss of not one, but two, team members,鈥欌�� McGuire-Wolfe said. 鈥淏ecause of the short amount of time (between the local and national events) developing the proposal can be intense and overwhelming. The team this year did an amazing job of overcoming hurdles, staying focused and presenting themselves as the experts of their proposal.鈥欌��

CLARION is dedicated to improving health care through interprofessional collaboration. Since 2002, the competition for health professional students gives them a 360-degree perspective on patient safety in today鈥檚 health care system and how it might be improved.

 Student teams, comprised of at least two disciplines are given a case and charged with creating a root cause analysis. They have 15 minutes to present their findings to a panel of interprofessional judges that evaluates their work in the context of real-world standards of practice. Faculty mentors assist them throughout the competition process.

鈥淚t takes professionals from all forms of health, not just the clinical specialties, that allows us to work together to find a solution to a complicated problem鈥欌��

Madison Burnstein

Wofford advised the students to focus on the 鈥渁sk鈥� and clearly identify the benefits of what they were proposing. For instance, the colorectal case was presented as a patient journey, with the goal of easing the patient's transition from screening to post-treatment surveillance.

So, the first need was to analyze the patient experience for friction points, ensure the interventions addressed those and explicitly link the interventions back to the patient's experience, Wofford said. The second need was to analyze the interventions as returns on investment: if the intervention was enacted, how could it save time, misery, life, and money 鈭� compared to the fragmented state of pre-intervention care 鈭� and lay those out as a difference. 

The competition emphasizes the need not only for the clinical treatment of people but the interaction of health care professions as a team, Burnstein said.

鈥淚t takes professionals from all forms of health, not just the clinical specialties, that allows us to work together to find a solution to a complicated problem that wouldn鈥檛 be possible if there was no interprofessional work,鈥欌�� she said.

The local and national competitions teach students how to work across professions and not on just one piece of a problem, said Olivia Brennan, director[KL3]  of student success, .

鈥淏y collaborating with students from different disciplines, they learn how clinical, social, operational and systemic factors intersect in a patient鈥檚 experience,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hrough root cause analysis, leadership development and presenting solutions to health care leaders, students gain experience solving complex challenges while working closely with faculty mentors.鈥欌��

The learned skills carry directly into future careers, which leads to stronger teamwork, better decision-making and more coordinated, patient-centered care that ultimately benefits the public, Brennan added.

The benefits of sending a 糖心Vlog team to the competition are to:

• Promote the importance of leadership and communication skills
• Prepare students for interprofessional practice
• Be part of a new wave in health care education
• Showcase 糖心Vlog Heath in a national event

 鈥淕oing forward from this competition I鈥檒l be able to apply communication, co-leadership, and perseverance into my professional career,鈥欌�� Slifer said. 鈥淣ot only will I be more informed and educated on colorectal cancer, but I鈥檒l be better equipped with the transferable skills to apply to the future challenges I鈥檒l face.鈥欌��