Interprofessional clinical skills: a tool for developing clinical skills, team working and professional awareness between medical students and physician associates

Abstract

Physician associates (PAs) perform a relatively new role in the medical team, with a similar skill set to a junior doctor (JD). Their role is locally yet to be clearly defined and it is anticipated they will assist clinical teams by performing many of the tasks that a JD would traditionally undertake. At the University of East Anglia (UEA), the first cohort of PAs are about to graduate and take up clinical roles. They will work closely with JDs. Neither JDs nor PAs have much experience of working together locally. Interprofessional clinical skills (ICS) training is known to improve clinical skills, communication skills and team working. It also has the benefit of providing a contextual learning experience in which the roles, responsibilities and skill sets of other healthcare professionals can be better understood. This may enhance understanding of professional identity within the medical team, improve efficiency and patient safety when graduates start in clinical practice. The aim of this project was to develop an educational tool to prepare students of different backgrounds using interprofessional clinical skills.