Student Learning about Poverty and Interprofessional Practice from an Interprofessional Poverty Simulation: A Qualitative Analysis

Six interprofessional (IP) poverty simulations were conducted at a mid-sized university from 2017 through 2019. Fifteen participants from five majors were interviewed to explore experiences, emotions, thoughts, attitudes, and applications to practice after the simulations. Themes related to poverty included empathy, thinking differently about poverty, demonstrating humility/respect, knowing/teaching resources, and profession-specific applications to practice. Interprofessional-related themes included the importance of the IP team, communication, and roles and responsibilities. The study found reflection with classroom and clinical content integration was critical to the participants' learning and transformation process.