Rich Interprofessional Learning Experience

At training sites in Mora and Grand Rapids, two cities served by the center, students scrutinized the case study of “Sarah.” Sarah is a fictional methamphetamine user created by faculty representing all six health-care specialties using the medical records of actual methamphetamine users.

Sarah arrived in the emergency room disheveled and hallucinating. She has a long history of drug abuse and abusive relationships. She also has four children to care for at home.

Students examined everything from Sarah’s dental slides (“Her mouth was a mess,” says Ray Christensen, Medical School assistant dean for rural health) to her reproductive health to gain an understanding of how methamphetamine impacts all of the body’s systems.

The experience was a gripping introduction to the immensity of the methamphetamine abuse problem for second-year medical student Kimberly Stange.

Stange learned about the importance of developing treatment programs that cater specifically to meth users. Most standard alcohol treatment programs last 28 days, but for methamphetamine users, the cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting the drug do not begin until one month after the person’s last time using, she says.

The interprofessional component is a key feature of this experience, says Brendan Ashby, executive director of Northeast Minnesota AHEC. Students worked together as a team and shared the knowledge and experience of their different fields. Together, they decided on Sarah’s treatment plan.

Sarah’s case illustrated how an interprofessional team would function in a crisis. Physicians would stabilize Sarah and take care of any immediate infections or other physical problems. Nurses would continue to treat and care for the woman while social workers create a discharge plan and make sure the care will be paid for. Dentists can examine a methamphetamine addict’s diseased mouth and determine appropriate treatment. Finally, pharmacists would decide the best medication for Sarah’s condition.

The interprofessional component of the conference was critical, says fourth-year Duluth campus pharmacy student Ben Anderson, because a diverse team of professionals working together is the direction that health care is heading. The field is becoming more specialized, Anderson says, with one example being the significant upsurge in the number of medications available.

This experience of health professional students makes real both the team-based care that they will provide and the depth of health issues they may address. In rural areas, meth is one of the most serious issues.

Ashby says methamphetamine use is a growing problem in a number of counties in Northeast Minnesota. “It’s always been here, but it’s spreading north with greater frequency.”

Christensen, who also is a medical examiner in Pine County, said he has also seen “a real presence of meth” in greater Minnesota.