On April 28, 2019, final year PharmD student Aya Dzhakha participated in an Inter- Professional Education (IPE) case discussion conducted at Thumbay Hospital Ajman, in collaboration with Arooj Bashir and Madiha Farooqui (College of Medicine) and Nour Farajallah (Medical Science Laboratory).
The case presented was on “Drug induced first degree heart block” both coordinated and supervised by College of Pharmacy. The students cooperatively reviewed the case and had multiple discussions and interactions with the patient under the supervision of clinical preceptors and faculty mentors. The main goal of this activity was the “collaborative learning” where each student shares his/her knowledge and expertise in assessing the patient’s clinical condition.
Prior to the presentation, the students conducted bed side discussions and were able to deliver care according to their professions collaboratively. Ms. Aya was leading in Pharmacist Patient Care Process (PPCP) including discharge counseling of the patient and treatment follow up.
During the presentation, Ms. Aya focused on assessing the patient’s medication history and identifying the main culprits for inducing heart block. She explained how each of the identified drugs act on the heart and resulted in an additive effect. Furthermore, she discussed the patient’s drug therapy and the rationale behind each medication given during his stay in the intensive care unit. She brought forward the appropriate treatment of Atrial Fibrillation between the options; rate and rhythm control strategies in patient individualized care. On discharge, she critically assessed the medications including management of comorbidities such as resistant hypertension and diabetes mellitus using the recent evidence and validated resources.
Dr. Subish Palaian commented: I am happy to see our PharmD students ready for practice as they work closely and in harmony with other GMU health professions students recognizing their complementary roles and putting the patient’s interest first.