Almost 800 area students planning a career in health care gathered on South Campus recently to learn how important interprofessional communication is to achieving excellent patient care – and ways to do it better.

The event, held Sept. 18-19, marked the 10th anniversary of Convergence Days at UT Southwestern. Participants included students from UT Southwestern’s Medical School and School of Health Professions, pharmacy students from Texas Tech University, public health students from UTHealth, and nursing students from UT Arlington and Texas Woman’s University.

“Who it really affects is your patient,” Dr. Kim Hoggatt Krumwiede, Director of Interprofessional Practice and Education, said of effective communication with the patient and among caregivers. “Such a large number of patient errors are due to communications (errors) and could be prevented.” Dr. Hoggatt Krumwiede is also a Distinguished Teaching Professor, Professor of Health Care Sciences, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Health Professions.

Convergence Days has a different theme each year; the focus this year was on developing an interprofessional culture of safety and team-based management of diabetes.

Taking part in a panel discussion on diabetes care was Isaac Lasky, a health care interpreter who has lived with the disease for over 40 years. Mr. Lasky said excellent communication and appreciation of cultural differences are important, especially when discussing a diabetes patient’s diet. “Do I eat tacos and enchiladas? Of course. Yes. That’s my background,” he said.

Panelist Dr. Sasan Mirfakhraee, UT Southwestern Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, recommended students watch their patients’ faces when they communicate. Their expressions might indicate they are uncomfortable giving themselves insulin injections, for example, which would require a different treatment plan.

During the event, students met in small interprofessional groups to learn about each other over lunch. Then, facilitated by a faculty member, the small groups competed to see which could communicate and work best together in a riddle room activity based on the interprofessional culture of safety.

Led by Dr. Angela Mihalic, UTSW’s Dean of Medical Students and Associate Dean for Student Affairs, one group put their heads together to decide the best way to treat a diabetic patient with a foot wound. They also had to calculate a patient’s body mass index and daily calorie and carbohydrate intake to find the most carbohydrate-dense meal of the day, which surprisingly to the students was breakfast, due in part to a big glass of orange juice. Dr. Mihalic is the Medical School’s liaison to Convergence Days, as well as a Professor of Pediatrics and a Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Sean Avery, a UTA nursing student on the team, said he found the experience of working with other health students and learning more about the roles of caregivers for the different disciplines valuable.

Another UTA nursing student agreed. “I can finally picture what the pharmacy does and what the doctor does and the struggles they go through,” Lorena Marin said.