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Public Relations Office, (570) 208-5957
April 2, 2019 - The King’s College Physician Assistant program coordinated the college’s participation in the tenth annual Northeast/Central Pennsylvania Interprofessional Education Coalition (NECPA IPEC) Collaborative Care Summit.
More than 800 students and nearly 100 facilitators from various health professions attended this year’s summit. Ten different colleges/universities participated. The summit was held simultaneously at sites in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Harrisburg area. King’s was the regional site in Wilkes-Barre.
The goal of the summit was to prepare students in health professions majors so that they can collaboratively work together with the common goal of building a safer and more patient-centered health care system in the U.S. The conference consisted of an opening session and small, interprofessional group discussions.
The summit focused on the topic of opioid use, where natural communication was facilitated during a simulation where students identify their professional roles as they responded to a patient case in acute and chronic settings. Participants discussed the role of bias and stereotype as it applies to health care for patients who use and abuse opioids, the impact and challenges of opioid usage on individual and population health, individual perspectives, the role of healthcare professionals on improving the health of patients and communities, and responsibilities in forming a collaborative team that provides comprehensive and patient-centered care.
Pictured sitting, from left, are student representatives Jillian Korgeski, physician assistant student, King’s College; Agnes Stypulkowski, nursing student, Wilkes University; Connor Houseknecht, nursing student, Misericordia University; Antonio Duardo, athletic training student, King’s College.