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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy student Justin Shiau, of Naperville, was on the winning team of the Interprofessional Geriatric Virtual Case Competition this fall. The competition, which was hosted by the Saint Louis University (SLU) Gateway Geriatric Education Center, was open to students from all health-related programs. 

Participants were placed in teams of four or five health professions students to collaborate interprofessionally. Teams were given one month to develop a plan of care for a complex, older patient with multiple, chronic health challenges before presenting their case presentation via Zoom.

In addition to Shiau, his team included students studying physical therapy, dentistry and speech pathology.

“I've always been extremely passionate about interprofessional opportunities, so when this opportunity arose, I immediately went for it,” said Shiau, a fourth-year pharmacy student. “Since this event placed me with three other professions working over the course of a month, I was able to fully immerse in the collaboration and experience first-hand both the challenges and benefits that come with working interprofessionally.”

After winning the competition at SLU, Shiau’s team went on to face the winning team from the University of Minnesota Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program in November, and won that match as well.

“My team was amazing,” Shiau said. “I think all of us worked together really well, and we each were able to learn a lot from the other professions.”

“Justin’s team did an outstanding job of developing a plan of care that required multiple disciplines to work together,” said Jingyang Fan, PharmD, assistant dean of academic affairs and clinical associate professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy. “This is a wonderful example of interprofessional collaborations with other institutions.”

Photo: SIUE School of Pharmacy student Justin Shiau.