CBU lecturer advises students on the importance of multi-disciplinary care

Riverside, Calif. (March 3, 2020) – Dr. Neil M. Katz told a California Baptist University audience that the most comprehensive way to provide health care is through a multi-disciplinary method. Katz spoke as part of the College of Health Science Distinguished Lecture Series on March 2.

“It is important that you know who is on your multi-disciplinary team because it’s essential in providing excellent patient care,” Katz said.  

Katz is a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Scholar and clinical professor of surgery at The George Washington University. He is also the president and executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Cardiothoracic Surgical Care.

Katz noted that in the medical profession, health care goes beyond what a doctor can provide. He said when all healthcare professionals work to provide the best care to a patient, the team is more likely to discover solutions. Katz said that providers have a keen perspective due to their specific job duties.

“[For instance] physician’s assistants not only help solve the medical problem, but they work on the floor. They work in the doctor’s offices,” Katz noted.

Katz said that using such a team could save lives. This method of management requires delegation of responsibility to a variety of medical staff members in order to solve a health problem.

“Everybody knows what their responsibilities are, and any member can speak up without consequence,” Katz said. “A medical assistant may say I think the patient is not reacting well to the medication and we may want to change it.”

Katz said he liked that CBU offered students live simulations opportunities on campus to practice multi-disciplinary efforts.

Each year, CBU hosts a large interprofessional education disaster simulation that more than 150 students from various program receiving hands-on training.

“You have the capacity to participate in simulations and that’s very important because when a patient is under cardiac arrest, you don't want it to be the first time you've ever seen them in arrest,” Katz said.

Zina Felecan, a physical therapist assistant sophomore, said she enjoyed the team concept idea behind patient care that Katz shared.  

“I think it is especially important to learn what a cardiothoracic surgeon can teach us, because he is so high up the chain,” Felecan said.  “And he still tries to integrate professions of lower rank like physical assistants and everyone in the healthcare system to work together for the patient’s well-being.”

Nicole Rabe, a public health senior, said she appreciated his passion to be a part of multi-disciplinary healthcare team.

“It was nice to hear his appreciation of the breadth of our profession and really show us how to be servant leaders in our own field through communication and working together for the betterment of the patient,” said Rabe.