What does learning together mean for pharmacy and medicine students: is it really about from and with?

Anna Chur-Hansen,Josephine Thomas,Koshila Kumar

doi:10.15694/mep.2018.0000110.1

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Healthcare students from different professional backgrounds are often brought together under the banner of Interprofessional Education (IPE) in an effort to improve collaborative practice. Despite the demonstrated positive impact of IPE on students' knowledge, skills and attitudes, it is not clear what students think about learning with students from another health profession. The aim of this study was to explore pharmacy and medicine students' views and experiences of learning together. Participants were Year 3 Pharmacy and Year 4 Medicine students, with qualitative data gathered via a written reflection. Three main themes were identified. Students were accepting of learning with the other professional group. Learning about was evident, particularly in relation to each other's roles and contributions to patient care. Learning from another professional group was the most problematic as students tended to view and treat knowledge as a commodity to be acquired from another rather than something that could be jointly developed. While medicine and pharmacy students' valued learning with and about each other, they were less likely to engage in co-constructing and sharing new meanings and thus learn from one another. To provide a basis for meaningful collaborative practice, IPE needs to challenge students' fundamental assumptions, beliefs and values about learning with, from and about other professions.

Highlights

Greater collaboration between pharmacy and medicine is linked to demonstrated improved patient outcomes, in the management of chronic disease (Daniels 2008, Gallagher and Gallagher 2012)
This study explores pharmacy and medicine students’ views and experience of learning with another health profession
This is seen as a mismatch of capabilities and responsibilities, since pharmacists do not have the right to prescribe; yet their knowledge of medications is better than the medical practitioners. Understandable this attitude is somewhat incongruent with the poor uptake of increased responsibility that has been available to pharmacists in recent years, including limited prescribing rights (Chan et al 2008, Roberts et al 2005, Rosenthal, Austin and Tsuyuki 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Greater collaboration between pharmacy and medicine is linked to demonstrated improved patient outcomes, in the management of chronic disease (Daniels 2008, Gallagher and Gallagher 2012). Despite the potential to contribute to patient safety, the pharmacist’s role is seen as subordinate to the physician’s role (Routledge 2012) In keeping with this power gradient, most pharmacists are reluctant to question a physician’s authority and opinion about prescribing even though they have a more detailed knowledge of drug properties, interactions and effects, by virtue of their training (Rosenthal et al 2010). This entrenched hierarchical relationship between pharmacy and medicine makes it difficult to establish practice that is truly collaborative. Changes in the nature of pharmacy practice over recent years, may further exacerbate the conflict between the professions due a perceived need to protect their own professional territory (Rosenthal, Austin and Tsuyuki 2010)

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