Interprofessional Education Team-Based Learning Series: Obesity Module

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this TBL module is to help learners foster interprofessional team responsibilities and professionalism, and understand the identification and management of patients with obesity. This module is one of eight TBL sessions completed by third-year medical students completing a clerkship in Internal Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. All sessions are designed to be completed in the format of Team-Based Learning as outlined in Michaelsen and Sweet's “The Essential Elements of Team-Based Learning.” During the TBL, medicine residents, pharmacy residents, and psychology graduate students will be placed into teams to learn about, from, and with each other. During the session, learners will complete a 10-item test individually on their background knowledge of obesity from the suggested readings, and then complete the same test as a team. Team members will then work together on case-based applications related to obesity. The educational module described fosters high-quality inter-professional discussion, collaboration, and shared learning. Learners increased their awareness of how disciplines can work together in treating obesity. They also increased their skill set in assessing the biopsychosocial factors that both contribute to obesity and inform appropriate treatment strategies. Finally, they learned of methods used in other disciplines, and they developed awareness of patient-centered approaches to care.

Keywords

• Interprofessional
• TBL
• Team-Based Learning
• Obesity
• Interprofessional Relations
• Psychology