Baycrest Health Sciences & Baycrest Foundation Publications
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Annual Education Report 2014-2015 June 2015 Page 4 of 30 Highlights and Accomplishments for 2014/15 In our fourth year of operation, we have seen much progress and expansion. The Centre for Education continues to focus on the implementation priorities identified in the Baycrest Education Strategic Plan 2011-2016 and as Baycrest Health Sciences continues to evolve as a global centre of excellence in aging and brain health, we have a unique opportunity to build on our initial success and to further develop and grow our educational services locally and internationally. These are still early days in the Centre for Education's development, however, the hard work and dedication of the Education team working with the many educators across our campus and with our key partners has resulted in the many successes you will note in this year's annual report. Here are a few highlights of our accomplishments over the past year: The Simulation Program: We have now secured a location on the 5 th floor of the BHC and are resourcing it as a simulation area -a physical space where simulation activities are employed for health professions' training that includes technical skills training (manikins, task trainers), role playing, virtual reality/e-learning and blended simulation. It is anticipated that training programs developed will include innovative components of simulation and e-learning and the state-of-the-art training space will be designed to become a "hub" to enable Baycrest to host external customers. Dr. Bruce Ballon, Director of Education at SIM-one, has been hired part time to advise and assist in the development and training of simulation. More recently, we will be adding a part time Standardized Patient (SP) expert to assist in growing and developing the SAGE program. IPE Initiative: A new partnership with Culture Arts and Innovation and TIFF's reel comfort program has allowed us to access film as a rich learning tool, and a forum for deeper connection and communication with our students. The screenings and related workshops have been met with enthusiasm and growing interest each time we run them. The films inspire learners and staff to reflect on the deeply complex issues related to aging, and emotional journey that accompanies our work. TIFF's reel comfort program provides experiences for our health care community that otherwise would not be possible. It is another strong example of the value of the arts and its integral role in humanizing the health care environment. Student Testimonials: "The movie was very powerful. It will make me appreciate what my clients are going through. We are these people. This is our future." "When [the film] showed people [clients] in their everyday lives, this reminded us that they really are people too—have stories, experiences." Our partnership with the Michener Institute has moved into Phase 2: to extend the curriculum to general entry-to-practice health care professionals and will be offered through a continuing education course. In Phase 1 an on-line geriatric training course entitled, "Working with Seniors: A Primer for Health Care Providers" was developed. Michener has now integrated the course into its curriculum to allow Michener applied health sciences students to learn about and experience the challenges of geriatric care and to cultivate the clinical knowledge and skills required of health professionals serving seniors. At Baycrest, we are using this course to train health professional students on the complexities of geriatric care to attune them specialized care required of the aging population. Another exciting initiative, in partnership with George Brown College, called Top Chef Dysphagia is a cross-organizational Interprofessional Initiative. This IPE pilot project was designed for Culinary Management Nutrition students, Speech- Language Pathologists and Registered Dieticians to learn together with a focus on improving care and service to older adults with swallowing and nutritional issues. Now moving into year three of the project, PSW students have been included. Both students and clinicians learned new things and found ways to improve their practice. The program is now part of the college curriculum and is being revised to include other relevant student groups. The Centre for Research and Innovation in Long Term Care continues to develop and refine its educational programs. The Geriatric Training Program has been renamed "Team Essentials" with 5 one day modules. During the past year over 680 staff from 13 LTC Homes and 245 students from 7 schools participated in Team Essentials. Other CLRI achievements and innovative approaches are described on pages 18-19.