I enrolled in Word on the Wards (WoW) because I wanted to practice having challenging conversations with individuals about their health. Being a second year PT student, I have learned about health coaching through my clinical experiences as well as through coursework embedded into my curriculum; however, I wanted to practice these skills as much as possible, for these skills are very important and can be challenging to master. This elective also came at a perfect time for me as I am about to embark on my second full-time clinical experience, so practicing my health coaching skills has been crucial. I have always identified with the inpatient setting, and this is where I can see myself in my future career as a physical therapist, so having the opportunity to work in a different hospital in San Francisco has been a great experience.
Overall, WoW has been an incredible experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed it from the application process through to my final health coaching session. I particularly enjoyed our introductory training session. Each speaker presented on an area of their expertise, and it was great to be able to integrate this knowledge into our health coaching sessions. I also learned a lot about the history of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which I do not think I would have learned had I not participated in WoW. The WoW coordinators were also very easy to talk to and approachable, and their organization and leadership is remarkable.
In reflecting on this experience, I am grateful that we have a program like this available to us as UCSF students. Above all else, WoW is an interprofessional elective in which we have the unique opportunity to work with students from other health professional programs at UCSF. Although we do have interprofessional education (IPE) integrated into our curricula, I feel that I have gained more interprofessional experience through WoW than I have through my formal IPE program. I have been able to gain valuable perspectives while working with students from other healthcare professions, and I have gained so much insight into how other healthcare professionals deliver care to their patients. I also think that these interprofessional interactions have been so successful because all of these students are participating in this elective because of a mutual interest in engaging in interprofessional healthcare. I wish that our IPE curriculum was able to have practical applications similar to those we have experienced in WoW. I truly believe that all of my patient interactions this term were successful because of the interprofessional collaboration with other students.
After participating in WoW this term, I feel more confident in having difficult conversations with patients. I am also more confident in engaging in conversation with other healthcare team members at ZSFGH, which is another crucial element of interprofessional care. I am more comfortable utilizing my health coaching skills, and I am looking forward to continue to apply my skills in my upcoming clinical experience and in my career. Since I have enjoyed this experience so much, I will be returning as a WoW coordinator in Spring, and I am looking forward to expanding on these knowledge and skills.