University Times

A panel of deans and other administrators from the Schools of the Health Sciences discussed the importance of team-based patient care as part of Pitt’s annual Interprofessional Forum, held Oct. 1 in Scaife Hall.

From left are: Patricia D. Kroboth, dean of the School of Pharmacy; Donald S. Burke, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health; Jacqueline M. Dunbar-Jacob, dean of the School of Nursing; Robert J. Weyant, chair of the Department of Dental Public Health and Information Management in the School of Dental Medicine; Ann E. Thompson, associate dean for faculty affairs in the School of Medicine, and Clifford E. Brubaker, dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Now in its third year, the annual event encourages first-year students from the Schools of the Health Sciences to familiarize themselves with other health disciplines and to foster communication and collaboration as a way to provide better patient-centered care.

Thompson said that communicating effectively with patients and working with colleagues from other professions are goals that once were rarely stated as part of students’ education. “Now it’s an explicit part of what we want you to view as critical to the success of delivering good care,” she told students.

Dunbar-Jacob advised, “It’s important to listen carefully, to know your colleagues, not just work beside them. Know what they do; don’t be afraid to work with them.”

She told students that health care professionals often don’t know one another and frequently don’t understand such basics as how others are trained, what licensing or regulatory restrictions apply to other disciplines or what capabilities colleagues from other fields bring to patient care. “We need to learn about each other,” she said.

“Put your curiosity about health care into your interactions with colleagues. Take time to understand who those people are, what they do, what they bring to the system and how to work with them,” she urged.

—Kimberly K. Barlow