Learning outcomes of interprofessional collaboration among medical and nursing students in Japan

Abstract

Collaborative interprofessional practices have a positive impact on patient care, and interprofessional education (IPE) provides a basis for this collaboration. This study aims to evaluate changes in medical and nursing students’ readiness to engage in interprofessional education (IPE) and the effectiveness of interprofessional team-based learning (TBL) for lower grade students at a Japanese medical university. This study aims to assess changes in participant attitudes to achieve the improved learning outcomes discussed. Students’ readiness to engage in IPE after TBL was examined through a quantitative pretest/post-test comparison. Students' scores on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) were compared before and after the IPE exercise; an increase was observed. Of the RIPLS's three subscales, “Teamwork and collaboration” clearly increased after IPE. This study revealed that TBL can be effective for strengthening IPE readiness in Japanese universities and established that TBL can influence professional identity formation. Because of medical and nursing students showed different aspects.