Exposing Young Professionals to Multiple Sclerosis Care, Interdisciplinary Teams: Stephanie Teixeira-Poit, PhD

WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

"We went on to find out, why do physicians or residents choose to specialize in MS? We found a couple of things. It was the ability to improve patient quality of life, enjoying interactions with patients with MS, the perception that MS is a dynamic area with evolving treatment options, and it was also exposure to MS early in their training."

The multiple sclerosis (MS) field, like much of neurology, is feeling the effects of the demand for neurological care with a looming shortage of those who specialize in managing the disease. To combat this ongoing problem and attract those to the subspecialty, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Workforce Development Committee designed an interprofessional student program in a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Led by Stephanie Texiera-Poit, PhD, the initiative had several objectives, including the following: identify MS career opportunities and resources, describe the basic pathophysiology and clinical representation of MS, recognize the experience of someone living with MS, identify MS signs and symptoms, discuss the importance of interprofessional collaboration, and identify health disparities and implicit bias. Analysis of 43 program participants who completed the survey were presented at the 2022 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting, June 1-4, in National Harbor, Maryland.

To learn more about the origin of the survey, as well as some of the most notable findings, NeurologyLive^® caught up with Teixeira-Poit. The associate professor at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University discussed which areas students felt most improved following the program along with why the patient perspective changed the way some thought about the field.

Click here for more coverage of CMSC 2022.

REFERENCE
1. Teixiera-Poit S, Dalton P, Flach A, et al. An interprofessional student program providing early exposure to MS care and multidisciplinary teams. Presented at: CMSC Annual Meeting, 2022; June 1-4; National Harbor, MD. MDC-06