On December 11, 2018, final year PharmD student Fatima Ndanusa participated in the inter-professional education (IPE) case discussion along with Ms. Kavleen Kaur Kohli from College of Dentistry and Ms. Mizbah Zuber from College of Health Sciences. The audience were health science students and health professionals across various health disciplines of Gulf Medical University and its academic hospitals. The case selected for the IPE case discussion was a 58-year-old woman with ‘Submucous Fibrosis’ who presented to the Thumbay Dental Hospital with chief complaint of inability to open the mouth, and a history of chewing tobacco and betel quid for the past 10 years.
During the presentation, PharmD student Ms. Fatima laid down the Goals of Pharmacotherapy for the patient and explained the pharmacological basis for the use of glucocorticoids in a patient with Submucous Fibrosis and listed the advantages of using dexamethasone over other glucocorticoids. She further elaborated on the role of Lidocaine in this patient and highlighted its significant advantages, such as rapid onset of action, profound anesthetic effect, less possibility of allergy etc., over the other available local anesthetic agents. She also mentioned the rationale behind combining adrenaline with lignocaine while used as a local anesthetic agent and concluded the presentation by recommending the use of Hyaluronidase, Alpha lipoic acid and Betadine gargle for the patient, citing the available evidences.
The Dental student Ms. Kavleen Kaur Kohli presented on the etiology, chief complaints, patient assessment, diagnosis and dental management of the case. Ms. Mizbah Zuber, the Physiotherapy student from College of Health Sciences presented on the patient assessment, muscle stretching exercises taught to the patient which included forceful mouth opening with the help of sticks, ballooning and mouth gag. She also explained the audience regarding the ‘deep friction massage’ provided by the Physiotherapist to the patient, and demonstrated the improvements seen in the patient after the physiotherapy interventions.
The participating students, across three different health disciplines, under the supervision of the treating Dental practitioner and clinical preceptors, observed the patient and followed-up during the treatment course. Through the presentation, as visible, the students demonstrated the need for a multidisciplinary approach in efficient management of a patient’s health condition. This approach also enabled them to appreciate each other’s role in better patient care and learn mutually from each other.