Interprofessional education (IPE) and evidence-based practice (EBP) are relatively new concepts in health professions education in many parts of the world. These critical reforms are implemented with great effort. As clinical practice has become more collaborative and evidence-based, teamwork and research need to be well integrated in the curriculum. However, many stakeholders struggle to visualize the work of IPE and EBP in the context of health professions education and practice. The Neuron Model, using parts of the neuron, is designed to detail how IPE and EBP integrate in health professions curriculum design or reveal a hidden curriculum. Evidence-based interprofessional care has been implemented with limitations in academic health systems.  Lack of a common understanding of how it works is a limitation. The neuron model thus aims to visualize IPE and EBP in health professions education and practice.   Article Type: Commentary

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Introduction Guidelines for the treatment of acute agitation typically recommend monotherapy with an antipsychotic or a benzodiazepine, but combination therapy is frequently used in practice. We created a regression model to identify which factors lead to the prescribing of combination therapy for acute agitation on a psychiatry unit. Methods We collected retrospective data from hospitalized patients in the psychiatry unit. An a priori alpha of 0.05 was used for binary logistic regression models to determine if and how the number of prescribed medications for acute agitation was influenced by: age, sex, race, cardiovascular comorbidities, and psychiatric diagnoses. Results We identified 1998 encounters from 1200 patients. Patients are significantly more likely to be prescribed combination therapy if they are young, male, and of non-white race or have a diagnosis of central nervous system stimulant use, hallucinogen use, depression, bipolar, cluster B personality, or psychosis. Patients are significantly more likely to be prescribed monotherapy if they have cardiovascular comorbidity or have neurocognitive disorder. Discussion Several demographic or diagnostic factors predict combination therapy prescribing. Acute agitation guidelines should be reviewed to include more clear instructions on combination therapy use.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the usefulness of the neuron model in educating how evidence-based drug information and interprofessional care interface.    Methods: The Neuron model of evidence-based practice and interprofessional care was introduced in an online session to a group of healthcare professionals at a United Arab Emirates (UAE) tertiary-level care hospital in March 2021. A Google Form survey was used to assess the usefulness of the neuron model.    Results: Among those who responded to the form, 90% of healthcare professionals said that the neuron model was useful. This agreement improved significantly (Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test p-value > 0.05), and persisted even after six months.    Conclusion: The healthcare professionals agreed that the neuron model was beneficial in visualising how evidence-based practice and interprofessional care interface with each other, integrate into the academic health system, and help identify areas of improvement for healthcare professionals.