About the Competition
Scholarship Awards
Important Dates
Team Composition and Rules
Introduction and Goals

Clarion Competition,
an Interprofessional Team Case Competition:
Enhancing Patient Safety through Team Innovation

Introduction

Healthcare has become an increasingly complex business with demands brought on by changing technology, governmental interventions and patient expectations.  Yet, the one unchanging goal for individuals and institutions remains to provide safe and high quality care for patients.  Despite good intentions, thousands of deaths occur each year from preventable medical errors. Miscommunication and lack of communication among caregivers is cited as a main cause of the problem.  According to JCAHO, 68% of all sentinel events occur because of lack of communication between health care providers, causing needless morbidity and deaths.  It is not enough to just be a competent practitioner anymore; a health care provider must be able to function within and lead quality improvement teams. The Medical University of South Carolina is a multi-disciplinary institution that educates quality health care providers in a multitude of specialties.  Each of these providers is capable of functioning within their own environment but traditionally have received little formal education or training in working with others to solve complex health care issues.

It is a widely-accepted belief that if true changes in patient safety outcomes are to occur, the concepts of teamwork and interdisciplinary cooperation must be fostered within the training curriculum.  MUSC can and should become a leader in promoting the benefits of inter-disciplinary education.

Goals
Enhance patient safety through innovative thinking and improved communication.

Provide a framework for health care providers educated at MUSC to understand the benefits of and the techniques required to work in a team environment.

Establish an annual university-wide competition where multidisciplinary teams will devise innovative solutions to unique healthcare problems.

Implement a lecture series consisting of one lecture each semester delivered by a nationally recognized expert in the area of patient safety and team building.

Invest in faculty training to develop a cadre of faculty members to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation and team building.

What is the competition?

MUSC’s third annual interprofessional competition will engage students in an interactive case study.  Students from different disciplines will have the opportunity to work as a four-person team to analyze and provide recommendations surrounding an extensive healthcare case dealing with interprofessional issues.  Once presented with the case, teams are charged with developing a root cause analysis.  Dinner workshops will provide teams with the tools they need to succeed.  At the conclusion of the competition, finalists present their recommendations to a diverse panel of distinguished healthcare professionals.

Objective

Broaden the educational experience of healthcare students through interdisciplinary interaction as well as raise awareness of each profession to increase patient health outcomes.

Why Should You Participate?

This competition provides students with lessons in leadership, teamwork, communication, and conflict resolution.  It is an opportunity for students to gain clinical and operational knowledge not otherwise received through their formal education. Most importantly, participants will come away with first hand knowledge and understanding that interprofessional cooperation is vital to the success of our healthcare system.  Scholarships will be awarded to members of the winning teams.

Local Competition at MUSC
1st place: $3,000 team scholarship, plus a spot in the national competition
2nd place: $2,000 team scholarship
3rd place: $1,000 team scholarship

National Competition
1st place: $5,000 team scholarship
2nd place: $3,000 team scholarship
3rd place: $2,000 team scholarship

Important Dates

Registration Deadline:
September 19th at 12:00 midnight click here to register

Information Sessions:
September 3rd at 5:00pm in ECL 121

September 5th at 12 noon in ECL 121

Team Assignment and Case Distributions: 
September 30th at the workshop

Dinner Workshops
September 30 at 5:00pm in the Harper Student Center Auditorium

Here you will learn about:
Team Building
Root Cause Analysis
Risk Management

Written Presentations Submitted:
October 31st by 5:00pm (baskinsd@musc.edu and WebCT)

Presentation by Finalists:
November 20th at 5:00pm in Storm Eye Institute, Room 809 (reception and awards presentation immediately following presentations)

Team Composition and Rules for the Competition

• Team selection will be random
• Four students per team (no more than two students from the same program)
• Participants must be fulltime MUSC students through April 2008
• Workshop attendance is mandatory by every team member (presentation will be posted on website for viewing)
• In the case of a team member dropping out there will be no replacement
• Team members will share the entire prize as listed

Additional information:
Danielle Baskin, Phi Lambda Sigma President, baskind@musc.edu
Melissa Thompson, MUSC SGA Secretary, thommeli@musc.edu

Sponsors:
Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society
MUSC Student Government Association
Interprofessional Competition Committee

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