In the third of our series with Advances in Simulation, we discuss Tracing the prescription journey: a qualitative evaluation of an interprofessional simulation-based learning activity. 

Cooke et al. evaluated an interprofesional simulation activity involving medical and pharmacy students, using a qualitative analysis. The simulation involved followed a patient journey from presentation in a community setting, through an assessment and prescribing process, to the dispensing and patient education stages of the patient journey. 

Simulcast was fortunate to have Gerry Gormley (@DrGerryG) as our guest author, together with Christy Noble as a discussant. 

Gerry is an academic general practitioner and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Medical Education (CME), Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). His roles there include the lead for educational research, including that relating to simulation based learning in healthcare.   

Christy Noble is a pharmacist and Principal Research Fellow (Allied Health) at Gold Cost Hospital and Health Service. Her PhD work reviewed focussed on undergraduate pharmacy curricula, and she is currently researching interprofessional co-supervision and practice-based learning. 

Our conversation canvassed the challenges in IPE activities, the specific opportunities afforded by simulation for IPE, and took a dive into some robust qualitative research methods employed by the study team.  

Thanks to our guests and to Advances for another wonderful collaborative effort 

Victoria