Beyond Clinic Walls – Asheville

Beyond Clinic Walls- Asheville

Beyond Clinic Walls is an Asheville-based interdisciplinary program that groups students from nursing, medicine, pharmacy, and social work and assigns them their own client who are members of our community. The community member may have limitations or barriers to care such as disabilities, social isolation, low health literacy, and socioeconomic disadvantages. The team meets with their client monthly for the academic year to discuss their health and/or lifestyle goals, act as a support system, and educate on disease state management. Additionally, we host one roundtable per semester at the Mountain Area Health Education Center; these roundtables are group-led discussions to inform faculty about client sessions.

Goals of BCW:

• To create a space for interprofessional education that promotes appreciation and collaboration.
• To learn from other disciplines and value what each member of the healthcare team has to offer.
• To learn how social determinants of health impact a patient’s overall health and wellbeing, treatment management, care and quality of life.
• To increase awareness of community resources
• Maintain HIPAA compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it cost to join Beyond Clinic Walls?

BCW is a volunteer organization that is free for all participants!

What will you get out of Beyond Clinic Walls?

This is a great opportunity to work with your future colleagues in healthcare. It’s important to understand a patient from various perspectives, as drug treatment is only a small part of a patient’s overall condition. By meeting with your group members and your client, you will have early exposure to the interdisciplinary advancements currently taking place in the healthcare system. Support-focused client sessions will help develop your empathy skills and establish a trusting relationship.

What is the time requirement?

BCW offers great flexibility when working with your team. We ask that everyone on the team attempts to prioritize BCW when trying to establish a meeting time with their clients. However, besides the two round table events and the kick-off event in September, the only other requirement is the hour meeting with your client. Many teams benefit from meeting either in person or electronically with each other briefly before these meetings to discuss goals, however this is optional.

Events

• September BCW Kick-off Event
  • September BCW Kick-off Event brings everyone together from the various disciplines to meet your team in person and to get assigned your client (a patient within the community).
• Monthly meetings with your team and client
  • Monthly meetings will be established by your team members based on everyone’s availability and the availability of the client. The meetings are typically an hour long and provide everyone a chance to get to know the client and their needs both within the health system and out of the health system.
• November Roundtable Meeting
  • The November and March Roundtables give every team a chance to present information they have learned about their client to the other teams and faculty members. This provides a chance for everyone to brainstorm ideas together of resources that could benefit the client and help them reach their health goals.
• Fall dinner with client
  • In the fall, $100 is allocated to each team to provide a dinner for the client as a way of thanking them for their time and participation.
    
• March Roundtable Meeting
• Spring project with client
  • In the spring, a project/outing should be determined that everyone can participate in that would benefit the client. Money can be provided to help execute these projects/outings. Past projects included nature hikes, art projects, hot air balloon rides, building a new closet organizer, establishing a pill organizer, etc.

Leadership

Beyond Clinic Walls President:

Leeann Musick (leeann_musick@unc.edu)

Faculty Advisor:

Dr. Emma Williams (emma.williams@mahec.net)