Abstract
AimsThe involvement of an inter-professional healthcare student team in the review of medications used by geriatric patients could not only provide patients with optimized therapy but also provide students with a valuable inter-professional learning experience. We describe and evaluate the clinical and learning outcomes of an inter-professional student-run mediation review program (ISP).Subject and methodA variable team consisting of students in medicine, pharmacy, master advanced nursing practice, and master physician assistant reviewed the medication lists of patients attending a specialized geriatric outpatient clinic.ResultsDuring 32 outpatient visits, 188 medications were reviewed. The students identified 14 medication-related problems, of which 4 were not recognized by healthcare professionals. The ISP team advised 95 medication changes, of which 68 (71.6%) were directly implemented. Students evaluated this pilot program positively and considered it educational (median score 4 out of 5) and thought it would contribute to their future inter-professional relationships.ConclusionAn inter-professional team of healthcare students is an innovative healthcare improvement for (academic) hospitals to increase medication safety. Most formulated advices were directly incorporated in daily practice and could prevent future medication-related harm. The ISP also offers students a first opportunity to work in an inter-professional manner and get insight into the perspectives and qualities of their future colleagues.
Highlights
IntroductionEven though different physicians and specialists are expected to know the medications their patients use, relatively little attention is paid to the optimization of these medications
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Medicine is becoming increasingly specialized, with specific referral questions and clearly defined outpatient clinical goals
These were bachelor medical students (VU University) who participated as part of the LearnerCentred Student-Run Clinic (LC-SRC) VUmc; master medical students who participated during their Internal Medicine internship at the
Summary
Even though different physicians and specialists are expected to know the medications their patients use, relatively little attention is paid to the optimization of these medications. Since there are a growing number of elderly patients often using multiple medications, there is an increased risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). It is essential to review patients’ medication lists in clinical practice [1, 2]. Medical curricula are devoting more time to pharmacotherapy [3], the teaching of geriatric pharmacotherapy and training in performing a medication review are still not standard practice [4]. A medication review is a complex task, involves various healthcare specialists, and necessitates optimal interprofessional collaboration. When implemented correctly, it can improve medication safety by reducing potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions [5, 6]
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