The Pennsylvania State University
College of Medicine
Department of Health Policy and Administration
School of Nursing
Chapter Structure
The Penn State University Open School Chapter is comprised of students and faculty from the Department of Health Policy and Administration and School of Nursing in University Park, PA
and the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Representatives from each program comprise an advisory board which oversees the activities of the individual chapters and
plans cross-campus events to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
Chapter Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
Provide opportunities to learn more about quality improvement, patient safety, and the science of
improvement
Promote an inter-professional environment and learning opportunities for cross-fertilization of each
disciplines’ strengths
Facilitate student quality improvement projects
Develop opportunities for student internships and networking
Health Policy and Administration students visiting the College of Medicine in
Hershey, Pennsylvania
During the symposium, interdisciplinary teams were immersed in the clinical
setting . Students from all three disciplines worked together on the First 4
Minutes Drill, a simulation lab exercise designed to have medical professionals
respond to a code situation.
Patient Safety Symposium
The Penn State Open School hosted an inter-professional Patient Safety Symposium. The symposium brought
together health professional students from the Penn State College of Medicine, School of Nursing, and Health
Policy and Administration Department to learn about patient safety and transparency. Health professional
students were divided into inter-professional teams to promote learning from each student’s unique set of
knowledge and skills. Teams worked together on activities and case studies, which emphasized teamwork and
communication. The symposium also included quality improvement lectures and a discussion panel on patient
safety and transparency.
Pre-and Post-conference tests were given to assess students’ understanding of quality improvement (QI) and
patient safety concepts. Based on pre-and post-test results, the conference had a significant impact on students’
QI knowledge as the average score increased over 22%.
“I enjoyed the seminar
and feel significantly
more aware of patient
safety and medical
errors than before.”
-Conference Participant
Contact:
Health Policy and Administration:
Jillian Harvey jbh221@psu.edu
Faculty Advisor-Dennis Scanlon, PhD dxs62@psu.edu
College of Medicine:
Michael McShane mmcshane@hmc.psu.edu
Faculty Advisor-Robert Cherry, MD rcherry@hmc.psu.edu