Abstract
Aim:Interprofessional education has been recognized as an effective educational approach towards enabling students to provide comprehensive and safe team care for promotion of health outcomes of patients. This study was conducted in order to assess the readiness of postgraduate health science students for interprofessional education/learning, as well as identify barriers to the implementation of such an approach in Iran from the students’ point of view.Methods:This was a cross–sectional and descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2013 on 500 postgraduate students in three main professional groups: medical, nursing and other allied health professions across a number of Iranian Universities using the convenience sampling method. Quantitative Data were collected through self-administering the Readiness for InterProfessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire with acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.86). The data were analyzed by SPSS18. Qualitative data were gathered by an open–ended questionnaire and analyzed by qualitative content analysis method.Results:The mean score of the students’ readiness (M=80, SD=8.6) was higher than the average score on the Scale (47.5). In comparison between groups, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in their readiness (p>0.05). Also four main categories were identified as barriers to implementation of interprofessional education from the students’ point of view; the categories were an inordinately profession-oriented, individualistic culture, style of management and weak evidence.Conclusion:An acceptable degree of readiness and a generally favorable attitude among students towards interprofessional education show that there are appropriate attitudinal and motivational backgrounds for implementation of interprofessional education, but it is necessary to remove the barriers by long-term strategic planning and advancing of interprofessional education in order to address health challenges.
Highlights
Human healthcare needs are so complex today that they cannot be met by one specialty or a particular professional group alone
An acceptable degree of readiness and a generally favorable attitude among students towards interprofessional education show that there are appropriate attitudinal and motivational backgrounds for implementation of interprofessional education, but it is necessary to remove the barriers by long-term strategic planning and advancing of interprofessional education in order to address health challenges
Health science educational organizations should plan to train a new generation of health workers who are capable of playing a role as members of healthcare teams with productive, effective, flexible and adaptable relationships, improving the health of present and future generations (D'Amour & Oandasan, 2005; Oandasan & Reeves, 2005; Parsell & Bligh, 1999; Reeves, Freeth, McCrorie, & Perry, 2002)
Summary
Human healthcare needs are so complex today that they cannot be met by one specialty or a particular professional group alone. A team of healthcare professionals from different disciplines maintaining effective, continuous, and constructive communication among its members is required to meet the increasing needs of humans in a complex environment affected by various elements (Barrett, Greenwood, & Ross, 2003; Hammick, Freeth, Koppel, Reeves, & Barr, 2007; Hean & Dickinson, 2005; Horsburgh, Merry, & Seddon, 2005; Momeni, Ashourion, Abdolmaleki, Irajpour, & Naseri, 2011; Sargeant, Loney, & Murphy, 2008). The World Health Organization (1973) has warned about the inability of health sciences graduates to provide care as members of healthcare teams and the negative consequences of such inefficiency. The WHO report placed an emphasis on the implementation of its professed goals through educational institutes (Buring et al, 2009; Norman, 2005; Solomon, Thompson, & Tilden, 2009; World Health Organization (WHO), 1998)
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