Concordia University Wisconsin School of Pharmacy hosted the 2nd annual CUW-Marquette IPE Opioid Prescribing workshop. It is one of several Interprofessional Education events held throughout the academic year for CUW pharmacy and health profession students.


Dental, PA, and Pharmacy Collaboration

This event included students from Marquette University School of Dentistry. In attendance were 200+ students: dental, PA and pharmacy students and 24+ faculty facilitators who gathered for a collaborative/interprofessional small team event that allowed students to dive into the complexities of prescribing opioid medication for patients with pain.

Roles and Responsibilities

The workshop first allowed for all students to fundamentally understand the roles and responsibilities of each profession.  Students talked with one another through Zoom in order to fully understand the credentialing of each profession and to work through any misconceptions they may have.

Case Study

The bulk of the event surrounded the case of a fibromyalgia patient and 4 different scenarios of her care that involved diagnosis, treatment and prescribing of anti-inflammatory and/or pain medication.  The case provided a window into the importance of communication across sometimes uncommunicative platforms, such as the electronic medical record, which currently are not adequately linked between providers such as PAs and dentists in the healthcare marketplace.  Pharmacy students in this workshop can learn to be the mediators between specialties and provide a channel for appropriate prescribing as well as more discussion points for patient safety and patient-centered care – the major goals of IPE.

Interprofessional Education at Concordia

“We have a great partnership with Marquette Dental,” said IPE Director Dr. Michael Oldani, “It was a great event and want to thank all the faculty that volunteered-from Marquette and Concordia. IPE continues to mature and grow on our campus, and it’s because of the great students participating and the faculty we have who champion it.” 

Find out more about the Concordia University Wisconsin IPE work here.

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