Hello Dent 2 and DH 3,

We are excited about the January 16th, 3-5 PM interprofessional education (IPE) session embedded in your respective curricula. It takes place in the Apotex (Pharmacy) building and Dentistry Clinic. Participating programs are pharmacy, physiotherapy, physician assistant, midwifery, dentistry, and dental hygiene.

You will be placed in the same IPE teams as per the last three sessions (Sept 2024/Jan 2025 and Sept 2025)—at least we will do our best to keep the same team member composition. IPE aims to enable students to learn with, from, and about each other professionally to better health and healthcare outcomes.

On Jan 16th, your teammates will look to you as the session is on the value of interprofessional collaboration through the lens of oral cancer. Importantly, all healthcare professions have a role to play in helping with early identification of cancer (in this case, oral cancer) and prompt intervention. For you, we are building on the August 18th, 2025 session involving Dentistry and Dental Hygiene students. During that session, you heard from Jennifer Cicci, a survivor of oral pharyngeal cancer, and from Dr. Vimi Mutalik, an oral pathologist. Both of them are part of the January 16th session.

There are two activities planned for the 16th:

* Case presentation: You and your IPE teammates will hear a brief recording from Jennifer on the value of interprofessional collaboration. Then Dr. Mutalik will share a few cases. Based on the cases, in your IPE teams, you will discuss the role/responsibilities all healthcare professionals have in 'if you see something, say something', as well as in reaching out to each other via consultation/referral, etc., and sometimes even navigating the challenges of disagreement. This activity takes place in Apotex. * Extra- and intra-oral examination demonstration: This activity takes place in the Dental Clinic. You will take the lead in this demonstration. You know how to do an extra- and intraoral examination and will demonstrate the examination on one of your teammates, preferably a dental or dental hygiene teammate. Once demonstrated, you will invite your other teammates to try doing one as well. The intent is twofold: * So often, we hear from patients that they have not had such an examination done before, despite seeing their oral health professional. This is very concerning, given that it is part of the examination done by the oral health professions. Thus, your fellow IPE teammates will know 'to know' to ensure the examination takes place during their own oral healthcare visit. Further, they will be a health literacy resource for their patients on what to expect during such an examination. Basically, we are spreading the word/experience to future healthcare professionals. Oral cancer often goes undiagnosed until later stages. It is our responsibility to do the examination as part of the overall oral healthcare appointment. Our colleagues are a resource for patients in ensuring this care. As Jennifer emphasizes, it takes a village. * All healthcare professionals view health from an overall health perspective. Oral health is part of the overall perspective. The experience will enhance your IPE teammates' awareness of this through the hands-on activity.

There will be 4-5 IPE DH facilitators in the dental clinic to help you. There are 30 IPE teams, so 26 teams will have both a dental and dental hygiene student. Between the two of you, decide who will sit for the demonstration and who will do the demonstration. Both are skilled in doing the demonstration. If your team does not have both a dental and dental hygiene student, then invite another teammate to sit for the demonstration. Wear appropriate PPE. When you do it, state out loud what you are doing, the anatomical area, etc. Encourage questions/discussions as you do the demonstration. After the demonstration, invite your teammates to don PPE and try doing the extra oral examination only (with appropriate PPE).

Please watch for an email early next week on room assignment in the Apotex building. The session begins in Apotex.

Let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to this IPE session—it is an inaugural session, and we appreciate your feedback.

Sincerely,

Laura MacDonald

Associate Professor

Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry

School of Dental Hygiene

College Lead, The Office of Interprofessional Collaboration

Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Manitoba

D212-780 Bannatyne Ave.,

Winnipeg, Manitoba

R3E 0W2 Canada

204 789 3540

Laura.MacDonald@umanitoba.cahttps://owa.umanitoba.ca/ecp/Customize/Laura.MacDonald@umanitoba.ca