Acupuncture and DMS Programs Co-Host Inaugural Interprofessional Education Event

A total of 62 students (36 acupuncture and 26 DMS) participated.

On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 the acupuncture and diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) programs held an inaugural interprofessional education (IPE) event designed to create interdisciplinary relationships amongst students. By forming these relationships, faculty hoped that students would improve upon their delivery of care, learn how to communicate their roles and responsibilities to other health professionals, and understand the importance of teamwork in patient care.

The event was planned by Jennifer Miller, MS, RDMS, RVT, Meredith St. John, M.Ac., Lic.Ac., and Jeff Hill, ACS, FASE. Fellow faculty Stephen Cina, MAOM, Lic. Ac., ATC, NASM CES, CJ Allen, M.Ac., Lic. Ac., Dipl. C. H., Bryan Doldt, RDCS, FASE, Erin O’Hora, RDMS, RVT, Debra Crandell, MS, RDMS, Susan Rohrbach, MBA, RDMS, and Saadat Bagherigaleh served as event-day faculty facilitators. A total of 62 students (36 acupuncture and 26 DMS) participated.

The two-part event included a classroom discussion and laboratory lesson. To accommodate this dual structure, students were separated into two groups, with Group A starting in the DMS lab and Group B beginning in the classroom. The students worked in teams consisting of three acupuncture students, a general track DMS student, and up to two echocardiography track DMS students.

In the classroom, students learned about the roles and responsibilities of acupuncturists and discussed the clinical applications of the pressure points they would be scanning in the DMS lab. Meanwhile, in the lab, acupuncture students identified pressure points in the wrist and spine, which the DMS students imaged before and after needling to demonstrate anatomy and real-time imaging of needle placement. Additionally, the DMS students in the echocardiography track provided live imaging of the heart. In one case, students witnessed the slowing of a racing heart after an acupuncture student massaged a pressure point.

The event also included a presentation on stress-induced cardiomyopathy, also known as "broken heart syndrome," by Jeff Hill. The presentation demonstrated how heart function could become abnormal from severe, stress-related situations.

Students left the event feeling better prepared to work as confident members of an interprofessional healthcare team.