Trans-disciplinary Partnerships in IT Health Software Development: the benefits to learning

Abstract

Healthcare has followed the footsteps of the aviation industry with respect to teaching and learning. Pilots practice endless hours on simulators prior to flying solo. Likewise, healthcare workers increasingly use simulation to practice skills and clinical judgment prior to providing care to patients in a professional setting. With the growing interest in healthcare simulation, there are increasing needs to enhance the learning that occurs within a simulation to ensure the effectiveness of this practice in healthcare education. In an effort to meet this growing demand, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville builds technologies to enhance simulation learning. This paper presents the process and benefits of using trans-disciplinary teams to build healthcare products. Specifically, the paper discusses the experiences of a team of designers, engineers, and nurses in a university setting who work together with their students, to build and test healthcare products including educational tools to support simulation.