Fall 2021 Inter-University Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition Winners Announced

11/16/2021

The Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gateway Workforce Enhancement Program concluded the 6th Annual Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The annual competition was held virtually and included a collaboration with the North Star Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) at the University of Minnesota. 

For the Saint Louis University competition, students and faculty from five universities were recruited to participate in the month-long interprofessional case competition, including: Saint Louis University, Maryville University, A.T. Still University (ATSU) School of Dentistry, Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville (SIUE) School of Pharmacy, and Washington University School of Medicine and Department of Psychology. A total of 16 teams were comprised of students from medicine, occupation therapy, physical therapy, social work, medical family therapy, speech and language disorders, pharmacy, and dentistry. 

Student teams included four to six health professions students and a volunteer faculty mentor coach on a geriatric-based case, that focused on development of a care plan for an older patient with multiple, chronic health challenges, including COVID-19. The students created an innovative 20-minute presentation delivered live via Zoom. Teams of interprofessional faculty served as judges for the presentations. 

Students had one month to prepare their presentations with the winning team at each university advancing to the Inter-University round. The top three teams from the Saint Louis University semi-final round included: 

First-place winners:

• Bea Nottke (SLU Physical Therapy)
• Brittany Taylor (SLU Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences)
• Justin Shiau (SIU-Edwardsville Pharmacy)
• Tate Pearson (ATSU School of Dentistry)
• Coach: Annie Harmon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, Washington University

Second-place winners (Tie between two teams):

• Gavin Defisser (SLU Medicine)
• Jessica Flakus (SLU Occupational Therapy)
• Sydney Phelan (SLU Physical Therapy)
• Brian Vu (ATSU Still School of Dentistry)
• Mary White (SLU Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences)
• Coach: Cara Wallace, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Saint Louis University.

• Roman Fratesi (ATSU School of Dentistry)
• Panawat Sanprakhon (SLU Nursing)
• Kimberly Saunchgrow (SLU Social Work)
• Hannah Schumacher (SLU Physical Therapy)
• Elisabeth Vaughn (SLU Occupational Therapy)
• Coach: Abigail Frech, Graduate Student in Doisy College Health Sciences. 

For the Inter-University competition, the Saint Louis University team received the highest scores. The winning team was awarded a cash prize and each of the members of the top two teams received medallions for their participation. 

In the evaluations completed after the event one student wrote, “Having such a diverse group of health professionals to work with for a comprehensive plan of care was amazing, it’s something that helps us recognize everyone’s contributions even before we graduate. Keeping the groups as diverse as possible is most beneficial.”