RUNNING HEAD: INTERPROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

IPE Reflection Paper 2: Interprofessional Communication

Thursday January 30, 2020

University of Toronto

1000487430
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Interprofessional Communication
The last interprofessional education (IPE) learning activity on Palliative Care was the

core IPE that I have enjoyed the most thus far. A large part of that was because of the strong

communication skills that all members in my group demonstrated.

Going into the session, I was both eager and nervous about participating in the activity. I

was eager because the activity would give me an opportunity to share my previous experience

from working on a Palliative care unit in a way that strongly reflected sharing information during

rounds. I saw this IPE activity as a way to practice what it would be like to report in rounds. I

was also nervous about participating in the activity because as a student, I questioned my own

ability and knowledge about OT in Palliative Care settings to be able to make meaningful

contributions. I was nervous that others may see me as incompetent. However, as the activity

progressed, I quickly realized that this was not the case. The other participants were not looking

to criticize me. Rather, they seemed focused on trying to understand the case and situation from

their own professional frame of references, theories, and models.

When we communicated with each other, each group members trusted in each other’s

expertise in their own profession, allowing me to feel more confident in expressing my

recommendations. Moreover, as most members of the group had some pre-existing knowledge

about each health professions’ scope of practice, many members were also able to make

suggestions on what another health profession could do with a client. For example, I had made

some recommendations on what I could in my assessment with a client. One of the medical

students in my group respectfully validated my recommendations but also proposed another

functional assessment that I may one to consider doing. The medical student offered his

feedback/suggestion in a respectful way. I remained open to his feedback and was grateful for he

recommended an assessment I had not even thought of. There were multiple instances similar to
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Interprofessional Communication
this where one profession would respectfully recommend something to another profession.

Through this means of open communication, our group was able to perform a comprehensive

assessment of the client and address most of the key issues outlined in the solutions manual. I

realized then, how trust, respect and openness towards each health professions’ opinions as well

as knowledge about the scope of practice of other health professions is integral to effective

communication and consequently, promotes more effective and efficient group processing.

I can only think of one instance in which there was a difference in opinion between a

pharmacy student’s medication recommendation and that of the medical student’s. However,

they resolved this difference of opinion in a respectful way, both clearly outlining their reasoning

for why they recommended a change in medication or a change in the dosage of the medication.

It was in this moment I realized the importance of being able to share a common professional

language with a team of various health professionals. There were particular medication-related

words that I did not understand, but both the pharmacist and physician did. I realized that I must

continuously strive to update myself on common terminologies as it pertains to medication,

should I wish to remain an active contributor to the team. This is something that I will try and do

in my future placements and practice.

In conclusion, this past IPE activity helped me discovery that I must trust myself and my

own competency and knowledge on what it means to be an OT. Simultaneously, I must trust in

others and respect their expertise in their respective scopes of practice. I believe that trust is one

of the key ingredients to efficient team processing. However, one must also strive to learn about

the scopes of practice of other medical disciplines on the healthcare team. This would enable one

to catch key information that the other health professional may have missed, which would

contribute to more comprehensive and effective client care.