How to Use Improv to Help Interprofessional Students Respond to Status and Hierarchy in Clinical Practice

Abstract

Hierarchy and status and power differentials in current health care practice persist, despite recognition of their ethical issues and movement toward collaborative practice. As interprofessional education continues to emphasize shifting from individual siloed practice to team-based approaches to improving patient safety and outcomes, addressing status and power is key to mutual respect and trust cultivation. What has become known as medical improv applies techniques of theater improvisation to health professions education and practice. This article shares how an improv exercise called Status Cards prompts participants to recognize their responses to status and how this awareness can be applied to improve their interactions in real encounters with patients, colleagues, and others in health care contexts.