Implementing Interprofessional Education Into Clinical Experiences: Athletic Training Faculty Perceptions

Abstract

Context Health care students must be prepared to engage in collaborative practice with one another. Because athletic training programs are preparing students to enter this collaborative world, interprofessional education (IPE) must be integrated into the curriculum. One aspect for consideration is clinical experiences, but little is known about how athletic training programs are implementing IPE during clinical education experiences. Objective To explore how professional, postbaccalaureate athletic training programs are integrating IPE from a clinical education perspective. Design Consensual qualitative research. Setting Phone interviews. Patients or Other Participants Coordinators of clinical education and program faculty who have a role in IPE implementation. A total of 17 faculty engaged in an interview regarding implementing IPE in their respective athletic training programs. Data Collection and Analysis Participants engaged in 30- to 45-minute phone interviews that were audio recorded for accuracy and transcribed verbatim. We used a consensual qualitative research approach to data analysis and developed a codebook collaboratively and continued to code using updated codebooks to ensure codes were accurate. We used member checking, internal auditing, and external auditing to ensure trustworthiness. Results Two main themes emerged from the data, with resulting subthemes for each. The theme of clinical experiences comprised four subthemes including intentional placement, assessment, linking to courses, and organic IPE. The theme of preceptor involvement includes the need for preceptor development, clear objectives, and active facilitation. We also used a frequency count to determine how many faculty indicated that IPE was currently occurring during clinical education in their programs. Conclusions As IPE continues to grow in necessity, athletic training educators should seek opportunities to allow athletic training students to learn about, from, and with other professions. Faculty will need to be intentional about these opportunities and will need to ensure preceptors are trained to integrate IPE and have clear objectives for IPE.