Curricular Integration

IMPACT Weeks

IMPACT Weeks are immersive experiences designed to profoundly impact the personal and professional growth of healthcare students.

Held once a semester, these intensive three-day sessions bring together students from various healthcare graduate programs, including medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pharmacy, along with undergraduates from fields such as social work and public health, to engage in transformative, collaborative learning.

Each IMPACT week is thoughtfully curated to encompass a diverse array of topics pertinent to all disciplines, aimed at nurturing purpose and holistic development.

A unique virtue serves as the theme for each week, guiding discussions and activities. Faculty members from various healthcare professions collaborate to develop and facilitate these immersive experiences, ensuring a rich and impactful learning environment for all participants. Active learning methodologies drive the educational experience, ensuring active participation and engagement.

These weeks begin with the introduction of the virtue of the week, which serves as the focal point for discussions and interprofessional activities. The week progresses with an exploration of Health Systems Science and its implications for patient care, providing students with a deeper understanding of the healthcare system's impact on patient outcomes. Subsequently, students participate in HEALER sessions, delving into the crucial topics of health equity, advocacy, literacy, education, and anti-racism, with a focus on social determinants of health.

Moving forward, students engage in thoughtful discussions about the relationship between faith and medicine within the framework of spirituality and ethics, recognizing the importance of addressing these complex intersections in healthcare practice. Concurrently, there is a strong emphasis on promoting holistic wellness, whole-person care, and character development.

Finally, students collaborate in interprofessional teams to participate in service-learning initiatives, fostering community engagement and collaboration while making an impact in the community.

Professional Year One Event

In the first year of their graduate programs, students are introduced to interprofessional education, practice, and the core competencies outlined by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) through structured team-building activities. Following this, they collaboratively tackle a case study, complemented by a panel comprising healthcare professionals to enrich and deepen the ensuing discussion.

Professional Year Two Event

Second-year students are tasked with engaging in a discussion based on a video concerning medical errors arising from communication breakdowns among healthcare professionals. Subsequently, students analyze a progressive patient case centered on a discharged hip replacement patient. The case incorporates terminology and information necessitating students to leverage their expertise in their respective fields to effectively communicate and address the posed questions.

Poverty Event

During the poverty event, students are presented with a patient case and tasked with collaboratively identifying their respective roles regarding patient care with the patient. Then, they engage together in a simulation using Spent which offers insights into how social determinants of health, like economic stability, impact patient care priorities and decisions. Following the simulation, students revisit the initial case study to reflect and discuss how socioeconomic factors influence the patient’s access to health care. The event provides students the opportunity to recognize the significance of addressing disparities to provide holistic patient care, advocating for improved health outcomes.

End-of-life Event

In a simulated scenario, a hospitalized patient with a do-not-resuscitate order, suffering from substance use disorder, is attended by both their sponsor in recovery, who holds power of attorney, and an estranged parent. At first, student therapy pairs anticipate conducting an initial evaluation. However, the patient's condition unexpectedly worsens during the simulation, leading to disagreement between the sponsor and parent regarding the appropriate level of care. Social work students provide support to the therapy students during the simulation. Meanwhile, law students observe the simulation but actively contribute during the subsequent debriefing session by addressing questions and clarifying issues related to advanced directives.

Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance

In an interprofessional setting, students collaborate within groups and form partnerships with community organizations to address specific needs identified by these entities through project initiatives. The fall sessions are dedicated to team building and cohesion, while the spring sessions primarily revolve around the implementation and execution of the projects. As part of their efforts, students develop deliverables tailored to fulfill the identified needs of the organization, alongside preparing poster presentations to showcase their work and its impact.

Meharry Geriatrics Case Conference

Students collaborate within a multidisciplinary team to address a geriatric case, focusing on the development of a comprehensive patient assessment and treatment plan. This concludes with a general assembly, during which an interdisciplinary expert panel offers valuable feedback and addresses queries raised by the team.

Nashville Interprofessional Collaborative

During this two-hour event, students are organized into interprofessional groups and commence with an introduction to team-based care principles. Each group is presented with a patient case and tasked with identifying and deliberating on the patient's health and social requirements. Subsequently, groups identify the specific expertise among their members capable of addressing the patient's needs, while also identifying any professional disciplines that may be absent. Students prioritize the patient's needs collectively. Following the exercise, students engage in a debriefing session focused on overcoming barriers related to teamwork and communication encountered during the task.

Spirituality and Occupational Wellness Events

These events provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in health and social welfare programs to actively reflect on how their faith informs and integrates with their profession. Each academic year, the committee selects a thematic focus and hosts two in-person events: one smaller, faculty-led session in the fall and one larger gathering in the spring featuring guest speakers, community members, and alumni, accompanied by a meal. While these events are open to all Belmont students, the topics addressed are typically tailored towards health and social welfare, with a specific emphasis on catering to the needs and interests of graduate students.

GoBabyGo

In the occupational therapy program, students design ride-on toys tailored for children with disabilities, in collaboration with undergraduates from Belmont Experiential Design and Vanderbilt Biomedical Engineering. They work to modify these toys for the benefit of infants and young children.

Environmental Modifications

This immersive event brings together students from occupational therapy, physical therapy, and interior design disciplines. Through simulated scenarios, participants encounter various disabilities while undertaking authentic tasks. In small group settings, they collaborate to formulate recommendations for environmental modifications aimed at enhancing the safety and independence of the "patient."

OT/PT Acute Care Simulation

In an acute care setting, physical therapy and occupational therapy students work together to provide comprehensive care for a patient. They learn to communicate and work as a team when monitoring the patient's vital signs and response to activity when managing line and tube management.

Shared Electives

We are initiating conversations to develop electives that seamlessly integrate common concepts or topics across health science undergraduate courses, fostering a cohesive and enriching educational experience for these students. Through shared insights and interdisciplinary collaboration, we hope to create dynamic learning opportunities that transcend traditional boundaries, preparing students to navigate complex challenges with depth and versatility.