Faculty from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center School of Health Professions (SHP) and faculty development experts from Education Development and Innovations (EDI) participated in the development and implementation of an interdisciplinary case study (IDCS) involving a fictitious cancer patient. During the annual IDCS event, student teams work in interdisciplinary groups composed of learners from each health professions discipline to review, diagnose, and treat the cancer patient in a virtual clinic environment.

The case study was designed by interprofessional SHP faculty and educators with support from the EDI team. SHP students complete didactic coursework and clinical rotations in 10 undergraduate and three graduate programs. All undergraduate seniors are invited and expected to attend the interprofessional event, which typically has 10-16 groups and 170 to 190 attendees. Students work together to complete a cancer case, engage in teaming, and the explanation of their content knowledge to other health professions students. The interprofessional approach of the case study encourages effective communication between diverse disciplines and actively involves students in learning. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the IDCS was held in a face-to-face format in a large room on campus. Faculty rotated throughout the meeting space during the exercise to be available for student assistance and serve as a technical resource for health professions questions.

With the advent of COVID-19, the IDCS has been successfully transitioned to a synchronous online format housing the interactive case on Qualtrics XM. This platform, typically used for creating and distributing surveys and conducting advanced analytics, has been employed in an innovative manner to support the IDCS. The novel approach has enabled comprehensive analysis of data related to student experience outcomes for this event. In addition to the challenges of COVID-19, several SHP educational programs have increased their distance education student enrollment, and the move to an online delivery of the IDCS has increased the opportunity for remote students to participate fully. The SHP faculty and educators serve as the Zoom moderators for each student group and, using a facilitator handbook, they guide students through the process. The 2.5-hour event includes engaging the participants in icebreaker activities, completing the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) survey, learning about the other undergraduate programs in SHP, completing the IDCS fictional case, and a debriefing session. The actual case study includes discussion about the patient’s treatment plan, including treatment history, treatment options, treatment issues/concerns, professionals involved in the treatment, and patient/family values.

This session will review the evolution of the IDCS from its original face-to-face format to the present iteration of synchronous online delivery and discuss lessons learned. Additionally, we will share the data collected from the events which include pre and post IPAS results, actual results of the IDCS, as well as participant feedback. We will share the future plans for continued growth and improvement of the IDCS in a virtual environment utilizing educational technology. The program design and use of technology could be replicated in other health professions higher education programs to foster interprofessional collaboration among their students.

Keywords: Health professions education, interprofessional education (IPE), technology, COVID-19.