This interdisciplinary team teaching tool was developed by 3 current GACA recipients (Bowman, Nazir and James) in collaboration with one of their mentors (Westmoreland).  It was a joint process closely developed with the suggestions of nursing, therapy, pharmacy, and social work members of our team, in addition to the recommendations and guidance of the 4 authoring physicians.

The tool has been printed double-sided in color on 9 1/2 X 13 inch size paper, has been laminated for permanence and distributed to various areas of our hospital, in particular to the places where teaching rounds are conducted and where housestaff enter their notes daily into the EMR. It has also been made available to other IUSM teaching hospitals with ACE consult services who host medical trainees of varying disciplines. A non-laminated form has also been widely disseminated in the orientation materials distributed at the start of the rotation for all resident and fellow learners. The intention is that once folded it can serve as a pocket-sized tool for future reference even after the learner has rotated off the ACE service. 

Learners are strongly encouraged to carry this pocket card with them especially when seeing new hospital consults on ACE interdisciplinary teaching rounds. When encountering a learner who has difficulty synthesizing an assessment and plan based upon the patient's functional syndromes, he/she is openly encouraged to look at the card and use it as a guide for developing the plan of care. Through the use of this tool we have strived to assist new learners in "thinking like a geriatrician." A downstream effect of this tool is that we have been able to streamline the sometimes lengthy and repetitious discussions that take place during interdisciplinary teaching rounds, without compromising overall teaching time and quality (such as not having to remind learners daily to assess for tethers or prn medications given overnight). Through this process, we have found that our learners are more proactive, teaching rounds are not only more productive and conducive to learning, but most importantly there is more time for bedside teaching with the other team members leading the way because we don't spend as much time sitting at a table prompting learners to think about these issues - they have already proactively started thinking about them before rounds even begin.

This tool has been reviewed locally by IUSM senior faculty who are also mentors of authors Bowman, Nazir and James. Also closely reivewed in collaboration with all the non-physician members of our interdisciplinary team, without whom this product would not have been possible.