11 minute read
Feature – A New Model
Meet Our 2020 Employees of the Year
Sherman College recently honored two outstanding employees in appreciation of their contributions, time and commitment to the college and its students.
FACULTY MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Princess Porter-Fowler, D.C. | Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences
Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences Princess Porter-Fowler, D.C., was named Faculty Member of the Year and is known for her high level of enthusiasm and engagement with students. A 2001 Sherman College graduate, Dr. Porter-Fowler has worked in both admissions and academic affairs. She joined the college in 2015 as an instructor in the areas of clinical sciences and anatomy and teaches courses in Palpation, X-ray Anatomy, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics and Geriatrics. Dr. Porter-Fowler is a second-generation Sherman College graduate; her father, John H. Porter Jr., D.C., is a 1977 alumnus and recently retired after teaching for more than 41 years at the college (see page 6). “We were happy to have Dr. Porter-Fowler return and join the faculty. She makes learning fun, and we can always rely on her to help out when needed," said Vice President for Academic Affairs Joe Donofrio, D.C., ’94, A.C.P. Dr. Porter-Fowler earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, SC. She practices, along with her father, in a local office that has been serving the citizens of Spartanburg for more than four decades.
STAFF MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Andrew Cook, A.A.S. | Junior Systems Administrator
Andrew Cook, A.A.S., was named Staff Member of the Year. Cook joined the Sherman College staff in August 2018 as a help desk technician, where he supported nearly all aspects of college operations, from Sherman Showcase recruitment weekends and national board exam testing to classroom support help desk duties and countless other ongoing IT projects. This year, in particular, Cook was instrumental in the college's shift to remote work during the pandemic. With his recent promotion to junior systems administrator, Cook's focus will shift to include duties such as server and website maintenance.
“The support Andrew has provided to the employees of Sherman College through its recent expansion, and more importantly, through this year’s shutdown due to COVID, has been second to none,” says Director of Information Technology Greg Aldridge, A.A.S. “During his time at the college, Andrew has become a vital part of the day-to-day function of our institution. His work not only keeps us going, but it contributes to improved performance. We are excited to see what he does next.”
Clinical Competency Model
Sherman College launched the Clinical Competency Model in 2019 to provide interns with a mentoring relationship that provides ongoing feedback and opportunties to identify areas for additional study or practice early on. The multimodal delivery system ensures a more productive and customized internship experience.
For Sherman College students, gaining “intern” status is a major milestone in the educational process, bridging their strong foundation in the sciences with the hands-on clinical skills they have been building since first quarter.
The Health Center environment also allows interns to gain hands-on experience under the watchful guidance and supervision of licensed doctors of chiropractic. It provides a safe space to practice what they have learned in the classroom, incorporating every aspect of patient care.
New Model For Closer Collaboration
Because the clinic experience plays such a vital role in preparing students for practice, the college monitors the process continuously to ensure its effectiveness. This process led to the development of the Clinical Competency Model, which was introduced in summer 2019.
Until then, interns had spent the first part of the program acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes that they could apply in clinic with staff guiding and mentoring them along the way. The new model, using a multimodal delivery system, was designed to foster closer relationships among case doctors, interns and patients.
“The most important change in our approach is that we pair each intern with a doctor who mentors the intern throughout the program, providing a more personal experience, something that the chiropractic profession is famous for,” says Provost Robert Irwin, D.C. “The feedback has been positive from interns, patients, staff, case doctors and, most recently, the Council on Chiropractic Education.”
With the new Clinical Competency Model, the college sought to improve the intern experience, ensure quality patient care, improve the work experience of doctors and staff, and identify areas of needed improvement in the curriculum and intern experience.
Interns Report Positive Experience
Approximately 300 students have gone through the new model, and feedback has been positive. Irwin emphasizes that monitoring and refining through the ADDIE model, an instructional systems design framework, will be an ongoing process, following the data collected by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness to continue to ensure the best clinic experience.
iPad Initiative Eases Transition
COVID-19 provided what Irwin refers to as a “hiccup” in the process, but it did not derail the new model. “Beginning in April 2020, spring quarter, we shifted from 100 percent in person to 100 percent distance learning,” Irwin explains. Thanks to the college’s iPad initiative, students already had access to the technology they needed, including ebooks, supplemental texts and video tutorials. “Led by the Office of Teaching and Learning, and with the iPad initiative in place, faculty members were poised and students were equipped to make a smooth transition,” he says.
Model For Ongoing Assessment
Irwin explains the modified approach to assessment as follows: “The multimodal aspects consisted of online learning in lieu of in-person learning during closure due to COVID-19.” Further, that shift led to clinic doctors operating in more of a “flipped classroom” environment, where interns are provided class material prior to meeting in person.
This approach contributes to student learning and clinical progress. “The curriculum was designed to effectively assess the competency of the interns as they grow during their clinical experience,” he explains.
More Confident Case Management
Matthew Devlin, a student who came to Sherman from Swampscott, MA, found transitioning from the classroom to the clinic internship a bit of a struggle initially, but during his final quarter, he says he began to better understand the flow of case management. “My overall experience has been outstanding. I feel so comfortable applying what I have learned to each patient I see,” he says of the clinic experience that has prepared him to open his own office in Tryon, NC, following graduation in March.
Devlin credits the relationship with his case doctor, Kevin Power, D.C., ’81, for that comfort level. “Dr. Power has worked daily with me since June 2020 and has allowed me to feel a sense of agency in the case management process. He is always available to answer questions, but he gives his interns the space to think through their decisions — just as we will need to do in practice,” Devlin explains. “He has truly prepared us to enter the field.”
Improved Oversight, Intern Growth
For those who were involved in the planning process, feedback like this is encouraging and indicates the Clinical Competency Model’s effectiveness. Irwin says those who served on the committee charged with the oversight and development of the program appreciate the fact that checks and balances will ensure both case doctor oversight and intern growth. “Students enjoy the more immediate feedback the new program offers and the classroom discussions centered on clinic theories and practices,” Irwin explains. The case doctors spend instructional hours, demonstration hours, assessment hours and mentoring hours with interns, instead of the “follow our lead and we’ll watch you” approach.
One advantage over the previous model is allowing the case doctor, who works with the same interns throughout the clinic experience, to pinpoint any deficiencies early in the process and to provide structured feedback and development.
—Robert Irwin, D.C., Provost
Overall, the new model makes for a more competent intern upon graduation—one that is better suited for tackling the challenges of their own office.
Continuous Feedback Ensures Cohesion
When discussing the next step for the revamped clinic model, Irwin explains that “the next step never really ends.” Faculty members and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness will continue to monitor outcomes every quarter and make fine-tuning adjustments as needed. “The success of the Clinical Competency Model hinges on continuing to monitor and refine,” he says, “feeding data back into the curriculum to ensure cohesiveness across the board.”
The next step for students after their clinical internship is graduation and real-world practice. “We are excited to see this model in action and watch our students grow and develop their skills,” Irwin says. “Ultimately, they will finish the D.C. program well prepared for the many aspects of successful practice—from patient education to clinical reasoning, case management, chiropractic technique and more. They are ready to change the world.”
The new clinical model provides a wraparound approach focused on giving more hands-on opportunities and receiving ongoing feedback.
Health Center interns will begin using the EHR system in fall 2021.
Health Center Shifts to Electronic Health Records
“Paperless” is certainly not the first word that comes to mind for many Sherman College alumni when thinking of the on-campus Chiropractic Health Center, which serves about 25,000 patient visits each year in the Spartanburg area.
The stacks of paperwork, forms and case files that were a regular part of the intern experience will soon phase out as the college completes its implementation of an electronic health records (EHR) system from ChiroTouch. The college has been working with ChiroTouch for about 18 months to customize and develop a comprehensive EHR system for the Chiropractic Health Center. Overlapping with the college’s work to shift to the Clinical Competency Model, the new EHR system has impacted many staff roles in the clinic. In winter quarter 2021, the first stage of implementation began with appointment check-in/out and patient scheduling.
Pivotal Role For Clinic Staff
This transition puts the Health Center staff front and center in the processes of checking patients in, connecting them with their respective interns, and then collecting payments, checking out and scheduling their next appointments. The process is more like a traditional group office, rather than the previous method of having patients pay up front first, then having interns take over to handle care, scheduling and checkout. But scheduling and front desk processes are only one small part of the EHR shift, which will ultimately lead to a paperless clinic. Health Center employees have completed training on the full system, with intern training scheduled for summer quarter 2021. Beginning this fall, interns will use the full system as they enter pre-clinic, starting their reciprocals (their first patients) under care using ChiroTouch processes. All patient files will be paperless, including x-rays, which have been digital since 2007.
Paperless Records By 2023
In the meantime, Health Center staff are working to develop training lessons and videos for interns regarding clinic processes and procedures, as well as reference videos for the college’s Schoology library. They are also working with the faculty and will present to interns in PreClinic and Clinic I.
The college estimates that all patient files will be electronic by January 2023 at the latest, with about 90 percent of the transition completed within one year of full EHR implementation. Paper patient files will be archived as required by law. Electronic patient files will only be accessible when interns and/or faculty are signed into computers within the Health Center (the upstairs computer lab, faculty offices and patient rooms) and will not be available outside of the facility. Patient visits will remain similar in procedure, with everything traditionally done on paper being shifted to the computer in each patient room. Interns will examine, palpate and talk with their patients, then enter their findings and rationale into ChiroTouch. The case doctor will review the intern’s work, observe their adjustment(s) and then sign off right in the system. Without question, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the landscape of higher education, with many institutions reinventing themselves to maintain a competitive edge in the market.
At Sherman College, the pandemic’s arrival thrust the longrange plans of integrating online learning in the curriculum into immediate mobilization.
The college’s iSherman (iPad) initiative proved to be a game-changer for its transition to online learning. Thanks to this program, students already had access to most of the technology they needed to succeed in online learning, including ebooks, supplemental texts and video tutorials.
Applying Lessons Learned
The next phase for Sherman College involves taking lessons learned from its periods of online learning during the pandemic and developing a plan to retain online elements in the D.C. program, based upon best practices from the industry. One way this is already happening on campus is through use of the “flipped classroom.” In this approach, students receive study materials to review prior to meeting, leaving traditional in-person classroom time for focused discussion and deeper dives into the topics at hand. The recently restructured Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning will lead these efforts, providing the necessary campus support for an initiative that will strategically position Sherman College to be the college of choice among its peers. This Center reflects the college’s ongoing commitment to transforming chiropractic education with the strategic integration of instructional technology for ongoing excellence in teaching and learning. Learn more about the staffing changes associated with this update on page 7.
