Teaching Note—Designing and Implementing Interprofessional Simulation: A Social Work, Nursing, and Pharmacy Collaboration

Simulation is well-documented as an effective pedagogy in teaching social work practice. However, the financial and human resources needed to provide simulation-based teaching in large social work programs are prohibitive. Partnering with other disciplines with established simulation programs is one way to bring simulation to social work students through interprofessional education. This teaching note presents a pedagogical initiative designed to enhance social work, nursing, and pharmacy students’ collaboration on acute care teams. Leveraging social work’s perspectives, the simulation scenario used in this initiative was modified to incorporate a biopsychosocial perspective for assessing and engaging with issues of race, ethnicity, and economic hardship often seen in acute care settings. Implications for curriculum development, pedagogical strategies, and interprofessional education opportunities are discussed.