Effectiveness Of A Virtual Team Simulation Exercise For Interprofessional Students At The University Of Hawaii

Background: The University of Hawaii Health Sciences Schools have conducted the Hawaii InterProfessional Team Collaboration Simulation (HIPTCS) exercise since 2014 The scenario is discharge planning for a complex geriatric patient Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was converted to a virtual format, and we compared efficacy to the original format Methods: In 2020, half the students participated in person in February (pre-COVID), and half via video conferencing in April (during COVID) This included medical, nursing, pharmacy, social work and dietetics students In the online version, teams of students and facilitators were managed with breakout rooms The exercise began with a virtual icebreaker team puzzle, with debriefing by interprofessional (IP) faculty Students then developed a discharge plan and participated in a simulated family meeting with an actor After the exercise, IP faculty again provided structured co-debriefing to highlight principles of effective teamwork Students self-rated IP collaborative practice core competencies using a retrospective pre-post ICCAS survey with 20 items (5-point Likert scale) Results: Participants included 122 students in-person, and 113 virtually Paired T-tests showed significant improvements in ICCAS scores in all IPE categories for both cohorts (all p\u003c0 0001), with no significant differences comparing in-person to virtual Students also evaluated the activity (Likert Scale 1-5, 5=best) They were very satisfied with ability to work through the simulation (mean 4 15±0 71) and improved in IP collaboration (mean 4 28±0 67), with no significant differences whether in-person or virtual For both cohorts, students described the most helpful aspect of the simulation was \u0027Collaborating with other health professions\u0027 with the second being \u0027Working with Actors \u0027 Conclusions: We were able to convert a geriatrics simulation to a completely virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic Students still achieved significant improvements in all IPE core competencies for both in-person and virtual cohorts, with high levels of satisfaction for both