The Minnesota Northstar Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program concluded its second annual Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, naming Saint Louis University’s team the winner. The University of Minnesota team collaborated with Saint Louis University’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gateway Workforce Enhancement Program, host and leader of this geriatric case competition for six years.
Students—hailing from University of Minnesota, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Maryville University, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville School of Pharmacy, and Saint Louis University—were recruited to participate in the month-long interprofessional case competition. A total of 31 teams comprised four to six students from allied health/OT, biological sciences undergrad, dentistry, dental hygiene, liberal arts/speech-language, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work.
Student teams included three to five health professions students and an expert coach on a geriatric-based case, which focused on development of a care plan for an older woman who suffers from long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms, among other chronic and concerning health conditions, and lives in a rural community. The students created an innovative 25-minute pre-recorded electronic case presentation. Teams of interprofessional faculty and community experts volunteered to serve as judges and coaches for the presentations.
The geriatric case competition is led by Kris Talley, PhD, APRN, CNP, FGSA, faculty in the UMN School of Nursing. Dr. Talley said, “The presentations by both teams were impressive. It fills me with pride to see students tackle such a complicated case and offer such innovative solutions. I am amazed at how well students from different disciplines and universities worked so well together during this competition. They are building interprofessional team skills that will benefit the health of older people that will ultimately be under their care.”
Students prepared and recorded their presentations, with support from expert coaches, and their presentations were scored by expert judges. The coaches and judges were faculty or community experts in aging. The top-rated team from the first round competed live via Zoom against the other university team. The top team from the UMN included these students:
- Madalyn Nones in the School of Public Health - Epidemiology
- Priya Periakaruppan in the School of Pharmacy, Doctor of Pharmacy
- Lamiya Tanovic from A.T. Still University - Dentistry
- Lanette Wedell in the School of Dentistry - Master of Science in Dental Hygiene - Education Track
Following the event, one student commented: ”I really think having the coach's guidance is vital. I think the opportunity to participate and be part of the interprofessional culture is something that needs to keep thriving.”
For the inter-university competition, the scores were very close, and Saint Louis University’s team was declared the winner. Students in Saint Louis University's team represented the professions of pharmacy, dentistry, physical therapy, and speech language hearing sciences. The students in the University of Minnesota team are studying public health epidemiology, pharmacy, dentistry and dental hygiene Master of Science / education. The winning team was awarded a cash prize, and each of the members of the top two teams received medallions and certificates for their participation. All participants of the Minnesota competition will receive a copy of "Geriatrics at Your Fingertips 2021," an annually updated reference that provides quick and easy access to the specific information clinicians need to make decisions about the care of older adults. The winning team was awarded a cash prize, and each of the members of the top two teams received medallions and certificates for their participation.
Congratulations to the winning team and to all participants! Thank you to the coaches and judges who generously devoted their time to the participants and competition.
Listen to the case presentations of the winning teams:
Watch the Saint Louis University team’s winning presentation: part one and part two.