VCU news

By Malorie Burkett

For the second consecutive year, a team of Virginia Commonwealth University students has taken top honors in the National CLARION Interprofessional Case Competition.

Held at the University of Minnesota, the competition is designed and administered by medical students in response to what they see as the need for interprofessional education to improve quality and patient safety in health care.

“These students have continued the winning ways of VCU's performance in national case competitions,” said Stephen S. Mick, Ph.D., Arthur Graham Glasgow professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration. “Their interdisciplinary work – carefully planned and prepared – shows how their skills at synthesizing a vast amount of material have been honed.”
 
This year’s VCU team was made up of health administration students who also represented other health disciplines. They included Michelle Mudge-Riley, D.O., Dan Barrett, Suzanne Britt and Christina Olmsted. The students represented the schools of Allied Health, Medicine and Pharmacy.

“The best part about the experience was the team dynamic between the four people who were so different, yet who all shared the same characteristic of being driven to excellence,” said Mudge-Riley. 

This year’s hypothetical case involved a sentinel event in a hospital – an unanticipated or unusual event in a healthcare setting that results in death or serious physical injury. During the competition, the teams analyzed and recommended changes for the hospital that would help to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.

“We made this case a priority and pushed ourselves and each other to levels which we never thought were possible,” said Barrett.  “We made sure to keep the patient first. We accepted nothing less than excellence from ourselves and each other.”

The competition was sponsored by CLARION, a student group at the University of Minnesota whose goal is to improve interprofessional collaboration.

VCU competed against other schools across the country, including the University of Minnesota, the University of Missouri, the University of Tennessee and Dartmouth College.

“This was not only an incredible professional experience that challenged each of us to stretch our skill set, but was an opportunity to work with highly passionate and hard working individuals who have the common goals of contributing to improve health and health systems of those we serve,” said Britt. 

“The skills the competition enhances help to bridge the gaps between numerous healthcare practitioners, bringing us together for one common goal,” added Olmstead.

VCU’s team was sponsored by Bon Secours Richmond Health System and the School of Pharmacy.