Two Medical Students Part of LSU Health Team Participating in National Interprofessional
Case Competition
Third year MD/MPH student Simi Mittal and first year student Shivani Jain were part
of an interprofessional team comprised of students from the schools of medicine, dentistry
and public health that recently participated in a national case competition.
School of Dentistry students Cole Spigener and Amber Kreko also competed on the team
representing LSU Health. Dr. Deidre Devier served as their faculty advisor.
Tina Gunaldo, Director of the Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative
Practice, noted that team was able to participate in part because of support from
the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, her own office, as well as support from each
of the respective deans.
“Student participation in this national case competition highlights the extent to
which we have been able to successfully integrate interprofessional education and
team-based care in the academic curriculum,” said Gunaldo. “Students had the opportunity
to apply for selection to the LSU Health team. The case competition amplifies the
Team Up curriculum. The focus of this case was how an interprofessional approach can
support the promotion of health in times of displacement after a natural disaster.”
"By working alongside students from other health professional training programs, I
learned a lot about interdisciplinary communication, creative problem-solving, and
group empowerment,” said Jain. “We had to think about how each of our disciplines
incorporates public health, evaluate strengths and weaknesses of various societal
sectors, and perform root cause analyses that tackled the case from multiple angles.
The diligent work and attention to detail we applied really came through in our final
product. I'm really grateful I got to be a part of this team so early into my medical
training. It highlighted for me why we need to continue to strengthen our interprofessional
education efforts to help serve our future patients and community."
Mittal added, “The best part of this competition was the opportunity to collaborate
with individuals from different professions. Each one of us brought such unique lived
and educational experiences to the table that we were constantly learning from each
other. As a dual-degree student myself, I was fortunate to have realized the benefits
of interprofessional education early on and working with this group was a constant
reminder about the many advantages of working with others in different professions.”
Teams represented colleges and universities from all over the country, including:
● Case Western Reserve University
● Idaho State University
● MGH Institute of Health Professions
● Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine & EIN
● Texas A&M University
● Thomas Jefferson University
● University at Buffalo
● University of California - San Francisco
● University of Illinois at Chicago
● University of Michigan
● University of Minnesota
● University of Pittsburgh
● University of Rhode Island
● University of South Florida Health
● University of Texas at Austin
● University of Virginia School of Nursing
● University of Washington
● Virginia Commonwealth University.
