Kaleidoscope of Care: Interprofessional Dinner Workshop on Substance Use Disorder a great success!
Shout out to the amazing TUSDM student organizing team from our Community Care Club: Michael Chau, Arika Neal, Kia-symone Surrell, Janki Bhagat and Tamunodiyepriye Ngo
Jen Greer Morrissey, Civic Life Manager, Health Sciences, Tisch College of Civic Life submitted the following post:
“On Wednesday, March 15th, an interprofessional group of Tufts dental and med students, in collaboration with Tufts/Tisch College staff, hosted the Kaleidoscope of Care: Interprofessional Dinner Workshop on Substance Use Disorder. This event brought together students, faculty, and staff from across the MD, Dental, PA, and MPH programs. Nancy Marks’ Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions Through Art and Storytelling kicked off the event to elevate the diverse experiences of those whose lives have been affected by substance use disorder. Dental faculty member Dr. Ronald Kulich, 4th year MD/MPH student Katie Stevenson, and MPH Faculty Margie Skeer were the other presenters. After each presenter, student facilitators led discussion reflection at interprofessional mixed tables.
Student feedback has been highly positive, and the structure of the event was a powerful model for engaging, reflective, and thoughtful engagement on critical health equity issues:
I thought this was an incredibly valuable conversation. I appreciated the mix of presentations and time for conversations among other peers in the medical field.
Thank you to everyone who facilitated the event! It provided a strong sense of “why” we do why we do.
Key take aways? As a provider, don’t judge anyone right from the start. Always connect with the patient before taking the role as a provider. It’s important to gain the trust and encourage that patient that taking baby steps is fine.
This event idea was brought to the Med school by the Dental students who participated in Tisch Summer Fellows (TSF) at Boston Living Center, a nonprofit which offers supportive services for those with substance use disorder. We are grateful to TSF for inspiring these students to take on leadership on this topic, to the dental students for inviting the TUSM students to partner with them, and to Nanc for helping guide an inclusive and yet efficient planning process. We are grateful to Tisch Fund for financial support, which allowed for a great dinner for the large two-and-a-half-hour event! “
