Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) held its 2017 HealthFusion Team Challenge (HFTC) 25 – 27 November 2017 in Scarborough, Western Australia in conjunction with its 2017 National Conference.

The IAHA 2017 HFTC is a fun and interactive learning experience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health students designed to educate the nation’s next generation of health care professionals in collaborative client care. Participating in the IAHA 2017 HFTC provided Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health students with opportunities to experience working in an interprofessional team to solve problems and determine the best care for a person with complex care needs.

Participating this year were 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from 15 universities, representing a diverse range health profession. This included Clinical Exercise Physiology, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing/Paramedicine, Social Work, Sports and Exercise Science, Speech Pathology, Oral Health, Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Health, Psychology, Medicine, Mental Health, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology and Radiation Therapy.

Students were allocated into interprofessional teams and over two, with the guidance of profession Mentors, each team developed a management plan which reflected best practice for a complex case study. During the Heats, each team presented their plan to a panel of expert Judges and responded to a number of extension questions and activities under timed conditions. The Judges then had the daunting task of selecting only two teams to progress to the Final Showdown where they re-presented their management plans and responded to an extension question.

The judges chose ‘Curly Wurly’ and ‘Rebel Yells to face off in a showdown event in front of a full auditorium of enthusiastic Conference delegates. Both teams skillfully presented their case management plans and responded to extension questions from the judges.