Interprofessional Aspects Research Articles

Current status and ongoing needs for the teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning – an international mixed-methods study from the students` and teachers` perspective

BackgroundClinical reasoning (CR) is a crucial ability that can prevent errors in patient care. Despite its important role, CR is often not taught explicitly and, even when it is taught, typically not all aspects of this ability are addressed in health professions education. Recent research has shown the need for explicit teaching of CR for both students and teachers. To further develop the teaching and learning of CR we need to improve the understanding of students' and teachers' needs regarding content as well as teaching and assessment methods for a student and trainer CR curriculum.MethodsParallel mixed-methods design that used web-surveys and semi-structured interviews to gather data from both students (nsurvey = 100; ninterviews = 13) and teachers (nsurvey = 112; ninterviews = 28). The interviews and surveys contained similar questions to allow for triangulation of the results. This study was conducted as part of the EU-funded project DID-ACT (https://did-act.eu).ResultsBoth the surveys and interview data emphasized the need for content in a clinical reasoning (CR) curriculum such as “gathering, interpreting and synthesizing patient information”, “generating differential diagnoses”, “developing a diagnostic and a treatment plan” and “collaborative and interprofessional aspects of CR”. There was high agreement that case-based learning and simulations are most useful for teaching CR. Clinical and oral examinations were favored for the assessment of CR. The preferred format for a train-the-trainer (TTT)-course was blended learning. There was also some agreement between the survey and interview participants regarding contents of a TTT-course (e.g. teaching and assessment methods for CR). The interviewees placed special importance on interprofessional aspects also for the TTT-course.ConclusionsWe found some consensus on needed content, teaching and assessment methods for a student and TTT-course in CR. Future research could investigate the effects of CR curricula on desired outcomes, such as patient care.

An Interprofessional Faculty Development Program for Workplace-Based Learning.

Most faculty development programs in health professions education, pivotal in cultivating competent and effective teachers, focus on systematic, planned and formal learning opportunities. A large part of clinical teaching however, encompasses ad-hoc, informal and interprofessional workplace-based learning whereby individuals learn as part of everyday work activities. To fully harness the educational potential embedded in daily healthcare practices, prioritizing interprofessional faculty development for workplace-based learning is crucial. Utilizing the 'ADDIE' instructional design framework we developed, implemented and evaluated an interprofessional faculty development program for workplace-based learning. This program, encompassing seven formal training sessions each with a different theme and five individual workplace-based assignments, aimed to support clinical teachers in recognizing and optimizing informal learning. The pilot program (n = 10) and first two regular courses (n = 13 each) were evaluated using questionnaires containing Likert scale items and open textboxes for narrative comments. The quality and relevance of the program to the clinical work-place were highly appreciated. Additional valued elements included practical knowledge provided and tools for informal workplace-based teaching, the interprofessional aspect of the program and the workplace-based assignments. Since its development, the program has undergone minor revisions twice and has now become a successful interprofessional workplace-based alternative to existing faculty development programs. This faculty development program addresses the specific needs of healthcare professionals teaching in clinical settings. It stands out by prioritizing informal learning, fostering collaboration, and supporting integration of formal training into daily practice, ensuring practical application of learned knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it emphasizes interprofessional teaching and learning, enhancing workplace environments.

Patient outcomes through interprofessional partnerships

This in-depth conversation explores the dynamics of collaboration between pharmacists and nurses, with a special emphasis on pharmaceutical care (PhC). The investigation commences by clarifying the notion of PhC, emphasizing its professional, patient-focused, and inter-professional aspects. The story takes place in the framework of the Polish healthcare system and highlights the critical role that pharmacists play—a position that was further highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But obstacles that have been found—from doubt to organizational difficulties—showroom deficiencies in the cooperative decision-making process between pharmacists and nurses, calling for a paradigm change. Extending the reach internationally, the discussion is consistent with the World Health Organization's recognition of nursing's comprehensive care, both independent and cooperative. Research demonstrates how collaborative efforts, such interprofessional medication reviews, can improve patient outcomes, lower errors, and raise the standard of care overall. Aspects of education highlight the deficiencies in nursing programs and stress the significance of identifying and maximizing nurses' contributions to pharmaceutical care in order to enhance patient safety and healthcare quality. The discussion ends by emphasizing how important it is to break down barriers via innovative professional viewpoints, educational changes, and legislative modifications.

보건계열 대학생의 학과 간 연계교육(IPE) 프로그램 적용 효과 연구

Objective : The purpose of this study is to validate the effectiveness of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) program developed and implemented within an informal educational setting among health science students. This will be achieved by setting up an experimental group and a control group among the students, comparing and analyzing them to assess the program's impact. The aim is to utilize these findings as evidence supporting the necessity and significance of integrating such programs into formal curricula. Methods : The homogeneity of the two groups in terms of the general characteristics of the subjects was assessed using the χ2-test and presented in terms of frequencies and percentages. To compare the differences in effectiveness between the experimental and control groups, means, standard deviations, and t-tests were employed. The validation of research hypotheses was conducted using t-tests. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 25.0 software. Results : This study is a non-equivalent post-test research paper that validates the effects of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) program by comparing an experimental group, consisting of
 students from three departments in the health science field who participated in the IPE, with a control group who did not. The results of the program's effectiveness verification supported Teamwork Roles and Responsibilities, Experts Biases. However, Patient-centeredness, Diversity and Ethics, Community-centeredness, and Experts Communication were rejected. Conclusion : Students from three departments in the health science field developed an Interprofessional Education (IPE) intervention program, aiming to provide an understanding of theoretical and practical education courses in other departments and offer experiential opportunities in each department. Critical thinking processes among professionals and communication are necessary for problem-solving among participants. Future research requires the development of suitable measurement tools for interprofessional aspects among health science students and intervention research for program development.

Approach to Evaluation and Comprehensive Care for Primary Ovarian Insufficiency

Idiopathic primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a reproductive endocrine disorder defined as the loss of ovarian function before age 40. The condition is characterized by infertility, estrogen deficiency, and premature menopause. POI has significant long-term physical and psychosocial sequelae. Because POI is underrecognized and challenging to diagnose, patients often experience a “diagnostic odyssey” that contributes to impaired health-related quality of life. This review provides a state-of-the-science overview of POI, approach to diagnosis and management, and interprofessional aspects of care. We highlight unanswered questions and future directions and underscore the nurse practitioner’s role in providing holistic care for women with POI.

Evaluation of online interprofessional simulation workshops for obstetric and neonatal emergencies.

To explore student perceptions of learning and interprofessional aspects of obstetric and neonatal emergencies through online simulation-based workshops. This qualitative study was conducted at Monash University, Australia. Data were obtained from six separate online Obstetric Neonatal Emergency Simulation workshops held between May 2020 and August 2021. A total of 385 students attended and were invited to participate in the study by completing an online survey two-three weeks later. Of the attendees, 144 students completed the survey (95 medical, 45 midwifery), equating to a response rate of 37%. Survey responses were downloaded from online survey platform and separated into medical and midwifery responses. Thematic analysis of data was performed using a coding framework, resulting in development of themes and subthemes. Main themes were adaptability, connectivism, preparedness for practice, experiential learning, learning through modelling and dynamics of online interaction. Students reported that online workshop was a useful alternative method to experience simulation-based learning, increase their readiness for clinical practice and foster positive interprofessional relationships. Consistent with existing literature evaluating similar in-person programs, midwifery students were most interested in interprofessional interaction (predominant theme: dynamics of online interaction), whilst medical students were more concerned with developing clinical skills (predominant themes: learning through modelling, experiential learning). Online learning may be a useful and convenient way of delivering interprofessional simulation-based education during the pandemic, in remote areas and as an adjunct to in-person teaching. Future studies should evaluate the impact of online learning with a mixed methods study and in comparison, to in-person programs.

Interprofessional student-led clinics: the volunteer patient experience

BackgroundLearning from patients and gaining an understanding of their lived experience plays an important role in improving health professions education. However, opportunities for students to engage in interprofessional learning activities involving patients as partners remain limited. In 2018, we developed an interprofessional student-led clinic where people living with Parkinson’s Disease voluntarily participated as ‘patient-partners’. The aim of this pilot study was to explore patients’ experience and motivation for participation.MethodsIn 2018 the clinic was implemented five times. Four patient volunteers and six to eight students from a mix of disciplines attended each clinic. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured focus groups with patients. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsEleven patients participated in the focus groups. Patients found the interprofessional nature of the clinic beneficial to their health goals. Their interactions with students from different disciplines helped to build their healthcare knowledge and confidence to ask additional questions of health professionals. Patients felt they offered unique perspectives to students of their own lived experiences. They found sharing their stories with students and each other built a sense of community.ConclusionPatients felt they enriched the learning environment, helping students to build their knowledge and skills by providing authentic patient perspectives. The interprofessional aspect enhanced the patient experience in a number of ways. Patients found the multiple perspectives of healthcare helped them to build their own knowledge, and reflect on their changing needs. Warranting further investigation, our findings indicate that participation in the clinics may have positively influenced patients’ health seeking behaviours.

Home Care Physical Therapists’ Views on Inter-Professional Shared Decision Making

Research has illustrated potential health benefits from moderate drinking, but also health risks from excessive drinking. Few studies have contrasted drinking effects on health across different periods of the lifespan, and how such contrasts may vary across sociodemographic subpopulations. In this study, we investigated underrepresented racial and ethnic group status as a moderator of drinking effects on health across the lifespan. Analyses used data from two waves of a large U.S.-representative sample. We estimated a series of 3*3 between-persons ANOVAs testing effects of Wave-1 drinking group (abstainer, moderate drinkers, and excessive drinkers), age (young adulthood, midlife, and older adulthood), and drinking-group-by-age interactions in White versus underrepresented status. The outcome variable was Wave-2 hypertension (controlling for Wave-1 hypertension). In the older-adult White group, results reflected the familiar “j-shaped” curve of alcohol effects on health. Specifically, abstainers experienced higher hypertension than moderate drinkers (with marginal significance: p=.054), and excessive drinkers experienced higher hypertension than moderate drinkers (p= .002). In contrast, among underrepresented older adults, hypertension levels did not vary significantly by drinking group. Graphical results clarified that the lack of drinking effects among underrepresented older adults reflected that they had similarly elevated hypertension across all three drinking groups, whereas the White older adults only had comparably elevated hypertension in the excessive-drinker group. These findings suggest that the positive health effects of moderate drinking apply primarily to White older adults. Our poster will discuss potential explanations for the apparent lack of health benefits of safe-drinking practices among underrepresented older adults.

What are the participants' perspective and the system-based impact of a standardized, inter-professional morbidity/mortality-conferences in a children's hospital?

Morbidity and mortality conferences (MMC) are well established but little data exists on inter-professional aspects, system-based outcomes and characteristics in pediatric departments. Our study aim was to analyze the system-based impact and to assess participant's perspectives on standardized, inter-professional MMCs in a children's hospital. In a prospective observational analysis the inter-professional MMCs held at a tertiary teaching children's hospital in Switzerland were analyzed for (I) resulting clinical consequences and (II) participants perception on format, usefulness and no-blame atmosphere. Eighteen MMC, discussing 29 cases were analyzed. Twenty-seven clinical errors/problems were identified and 17 clinical recommendations were developed: ten new or changed clinical guidelines, two new therapeutic alternatives, three new teaching activities, and two guidelines on specific diagnostics. Altogether, the 466 participants evaluated the conferences favorably. Little differences were seen in the evaluations of physicians of different disciplines or seniority but non-physicians scored all questions lower than physicians. Overall, three quarters of the participants felt that there was a no-blame culture during the conferences but results varied depending on the cases discussed. An inter-professional MMC can have relevant impact on clinical practice and affect system-based changes. Inter-professional conferences are profitable for all participants but evaluated differently according to profession. A standardized format and the presence of a moderator are helpful, but not a guarantee for a no-blame culture. Highly emotional cases are a risk factor to relapse to "blame and shame". A time gap between the event and the MMC may have a beneficial effect. Inter-professional communication; inter-professional health care; learning from failure; morbidity and mortality conference (MMC); patient safety; psychological safety.

Complex conversations in a healthcare setting: experiences from an interprofessional workshop on clinician-patient communication skills

BackgroundCommunication is pivotal to the effective care and treatment of patients in our health care systems. Despite this understanding, clinicians are not sufficiently educated to confidently conduct complex discussions with patients. Communication skills workshops have been shown to be an effective educational format to improve clinician skills. However, despite the increasing interprofessional focus within modern medicine, there have been few studies looking at interprofessional communication workshops.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted to assess how an interprofessional communication skills workshop affected the communication skills of clinicians at a tertiary health service. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were undertaken by participants, followed by focus group interviews eight-weeks post workshop.ResultsClinicians were able to incorporate learnt communication skills into their daily practice. This was associated with an improvement in confidence of clinicians in having complex discussions, in addition to a reduction in the burden of having complex discussions. Participants responded positively to the interdisciplinary format, reporting benefits from the learning experience that translated into daily practice.ConclusionClinicians’ communication skills in conducting complex clinician-patient conversations can be improved by participation in interprofessional communication skills workshops. We identified that the interprofessional aspect of the workshops not only improved interprofessional understanding and relationships, but also developed increased self-awareness during complex discussions, and reduced the sense of burden felt by clinicians.

Interprofessional peer teaching: The value of a pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students

BackgroundThis report describes the creation, implementation, and evaluation of an interprofessional pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students. The course was designed using a flipped classroom model and a peer-assisted learning framework. Interprofessional education activityWe describe the development, design, assessment, and evaluation of a pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students. This report focuses specifically on the interprofessional aspect of the course, which was measured using the student perceptions of physician-pharmacist interprofessional clinical education (SPICE) instrument. DiscussionThe SPICE instrument was measured across two cohorts in 2015 and 2016. Each cohort consisted of approximately 50 physical therapy students. After implementation of the course, there were significant improvements across all three domains of the SPICE instrument: interprofessional teamwork, roles/responsibilities for collaborative practice, and patient outcomes from collaborative practice (P < .01). Qualitative feedback from the physical therapy students and pharmacy student teaching assistants was positive and emphasized the benefits of interprofessional peer teaching. ImplicationsOverall, this interprofessional peer teaching model effectively improved interprofessional attitudes while accomplishing didactic needs. This innovative course may serve as a model for interprofessional education in different subject areas or across other health professions programs.

‘Ethics Are Messy’: Supervision as a Tool to Help Social Workers Manage Ethical Challenges

ABSTRACTSupervision is a critical component of professional socialisation for social workers that helps them develop skills to practice in complex private and public organisations whose values may be at odds with social work ethics. Research on the relationship between supervision and how social workers navigate ethical challenges is limited and has typically focused on managing the resultant stress. This qualitative study reports on the perspectives of 23 social workers representing diverse work contexts and experience levels who were asked broadly about their experiences managing ethical challenges in practice. After researchers engaged in an iterative process of open and axial coding of interview transcripts, six subthemes were identified within the primary theme of supervision: the importance of quality supervision, early supervisory experiences, components of supervision, interprofessional aspects of supervision, power dynamics, and the function and impact of supervision. Implications of the results for research and practice are described, including the need for supervisor training and support, exploration of supervision power dynamics, and how to balance creating a safe supervisory environment with need for accountability.

Medical Students’ Experience in a Trauma Chaplain Shadowing Program: A Mixed Method Analysis

ABSTRACT Despite the importance of spirituality to health and patient care, there remains a lack of educational opportunities for medical students to learn about and engage the spiritual needs of patients. Shadowing of hospital chaplains has been employed as a means of providing instruction in spirituality, but published experiences of this pedagogy are limited. This study therefore analyzed an elective, first-year medical student, eight-hour, trauma chaplain shadowing experience, the objectives of which are to increase students’ knowledge and understanding of (i) the role of chaplains/pastoral care in patient care; (ii) strategies for engaging patients and/or families in difficult situations; and (iii) approaches for discussing issues of spirituality with patients and families. A questionnaire was sent to participants after the experience assessing the value of the experience. Two focus groups provided additional qualitative data. Of the 148 participants over 6 years, 100 completed the questionnaire (68%). Participants on average engaged 1.78 trauma patients or their families and experienced 3.63 overall patient/family interactions during their shadowing. Over 90% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the experience provided agreater understanding of the role of the chaplain, and was educationally, professionally, and personally useful. Over 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the experience improved their understanding of discussing difficult or spiritual topics with patients and families. Nearly all respondents (98%) would recommend asimilar shadowing experience to fellow medical students. Qualitative remarks echoed these findings, revealing themes surrounding the educational benefits, surprise, and awe experienced by participants, and indicating appreciation for the interprofessional aspect of the experience. These data demonstrate that trauma chaplain shadowing may be effective for introducing first-year medical students to healthcare chaplaincy, educating them about the challenges of navigating difficult spiritual conversations with patients and families, and exposing them to interprofessional collaboration.

Learning about professional theories, models and concepts within an interprofessional seminar for undergraduate healthcare students

Abstract Within the bachelor programme Interprofessional Health Care the seminar Theories of healthcare professions was developed to foster a deeper understanding not only of the own but also of the roles and responsibilities of the other healthcare professions. Second-year students from different healthcare professions participated in this mandatory seminar. Students receive an overview of theories, models and concepts in the different health professions and are encouraged to discuss that theoretical background critically regarding interprofessional aspects and their application in practice. The format consists of alternating plenary sessions and group work in form of a modified jigsaw method. A qualitative study was conducted to capture students’ perception of the seminar and their learning process. Students reported that the seminar has impact on the understanding of their own professional role and on interprofessional collaboration and enables them to adequately adapt their practice to the situational requirements to achieve patient-centered care.

Well-being workshop: simple acts of care.

Well-being encompasses a constellation of multiple interdependent factors influenced by our personal and professional lives. It has a reciprocal relationship with burnout, a phenomenon detrimental to physicians, students and patients alike. Despite this, well-being is not a topic routinely integrated into undergraduate medical and nursing curricula. Local demand and increased global attention provided an impetus to create and deliver an 'Introduction to well-being' workshop. Our aim was to start the well-being conversation early in the professional journeys of students, and to provide strategies to gain and maintain well-being throughout their careers. We developed a practical, interprofessional well-being workshop for first-year medical and nursing students. Over six afternoons, 251 students in groups of 12-15 rotated through our three session, interactive workshop focusing on the interrelated subjects of self care, empathy and communication. On completion of the workshop, written evaluation and take-home messages were collected and thematically analysed. The interprofessional aspect of the workshop and the practical tools imparted were positively evaluated. Take-home messages highlighted the need to integrate well-being into the curricula, particularly the self-care aspect. Students concluded that 'simple acts of care' to self and to others were essential for the maintenance and improvement of well-being. Interprofessional early year well-being workshops, designed to promote open discussion around the significance of self care, empathy and communication, and to provide practical advice for well-being, were felt to be beneficial by first-year nursing and medical students. Recognising the importance of simple acts of care is likely to advantage not only individuals but also the culture that they shape. Local demand and increased global attention provided impetus to create and deliver an 'Introduction to well-being' workshop.

Patient safety - Development, implementation and evaluation of an interprofessional teaching concept.

Objective: Patient safety has high priority in health care. Since successful interprofessional collaboration is essential for patient safety, the topic should ideally be addressed interprofessionally in the curricula. The aim of the project was the development and implementation of an interprofessional teaching concept "patient safety" for medical students and students of health professions at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg.Methodology: The learning objectives were formulated on the basis of the “Patient Safety Learning Objective Catalog” (“Lernzielkatalog Patientensicherheit”) of the Society for Medical Education (Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung, GMA) and on the basis of the American Interprofessional Competence Profile “Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice”. Two courses were designed for interprofessional groups of approximately 15 participants. The learning content was designed interactively through the development of the project, its application and critical discussion of error reporting systems and security checklists as well as role-plays and video material. The evaluation was carried out by means of descriptive analysis of a structured course evaluation system, which was developed for this study. Results: 28 students took part in the courses. 82% of the students considered the topic "patient safety" to be relevant. In 82% of the cases, the participants rated the interprofessional aspect of the course as valuable. Overall, 73% of students whished for more interprofessional education.Conclusion: The results of the evaluation show that the teaching concept is well accepted by the students and encourage the implementation of further interprofessional courses with a thematic relevance.

Virtual Patients in a Behavioral Medicine Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Participants\u2019 Perceptions

ObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to explore learners’ perceptions of using virtual patients in a behavioral medicine Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) and thereby describe innovative ways of disseminating knowledge in health-related areas.MethodsA 5-week MOOC on behavioral medicine was hosted on the edX platform. The authors developed two branched virtual patients consisting of video recordings of a live standardized patient, with multiple clinical decision points and narration unfolding depending on learners’ choices. Students interacted with the virtual patients to treat stress and sleep problems. Answers to the exit survey and participant comments from the discussion forum were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.ResultsIn total, 19,236 participants enrolled in the MOOC, out of which 740 received the final certificate. The virtual patients were completed by 2317 and 1640 participants respectively. Among survey respondents (n = 442), 83.1% agreed that the virtual patient exercise was helpful. The qualitative analysis resulted in themes covering what it was like to work with the virtual patient, with subthemes on learner-centered education, emotions/eustress, game comparisons, what the participants learned, what surprised them, how confident participants felt about applying interventions in practice, suggestions for improvement, and previous experiences of virtual patients.ConclusionsStudents were enthusiastic about interacting with the virtual patients as a means to apply new knowledge about behavioral medicine interventions. The most common suggestion was to incorporate more interactive cases with various levels of complexity. Further research should include patient outcomes and focus on interprofessional aspects of learning with virtual patients in a MOOC.

Think outside the box – Interprofessional collaboration starts in the mind of teachers / Querdenken erlaubt – Interdisziplinarität beginnt in den Köpfen von Lehrenden

AbstractStudies indicate positive effects of interprofessional collaboration on the quality of health care. Interprofessional academic education of health care professionals is crucial for successful cooperation, although Terizakis &amp; Gehring (2014, p. 24) state «a genuine understanding of interprofessional teaching […] hasn't developed yet.» The undefined usage of terminology and coexisting interprofessional study programs are only one part of the problem. Further consented interprofessional learning concepts and systematic knowledge regarding competencies and teaching experiences are lacking. The WHO (2010, pp. 27 f) recommends lecturers to generate a common understanding of interprofessionality. At Hamburg University of Applied Sciences a part-time study program in interprofessional health care and management started in September 2015. It was designed as a continuing education program for occupational-, physio-, and speech therapists, nurses and midwives. As a preparation for the program focus group discussions with staff members of the department „Pfege &amp; Management» were conducted. The aim was to investigate their understanding of interprofessionality, learning and teaching. The results indicated a contextual understanding of interprofessionality, although the usage of the terminology remains blurred. The tension of a congruent interprofessional learning concept is to enhance scientific reflection of disciplines, as well as strengthening interprofessional aspects. Regarding the change in demands of the health care system, interprofessional collaboration is seen as a major resource. The research gap on disciplinary orientations in terms of enhancing professional identity on the one and interprofessionality as innovative construct on the other hand has to be filled.

Evaluation of interprofessional education: lessons learned through the development and implementation of an interprofessional seminar on team communication for undergraduate health care students in Heidelberg - a project report.

Introduction: This project report describes the development, “piloting” and evaluation of an interprofessional seminar on team communication bringing together medical students and Interprofessional Health Care B.Sc. students at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, Germany.Project Description: A five-member interprofessional team collaborated together on this project. Kolb’s experiential learning concept formed the theoretical foundation for the seminar, which explored three interprofessional competency areas: team work, communication and values/ethics. Evaluation for the purposes of quality assurance and future curricula development was conducted using two quantitative measures: descriptive analysis of a standardized course evaluation tool (EvaSys) ANOVA analysis of the German translation of the University of the West of England Interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE-IP-D). Results: The key finding from the standardized course evaluation was that the interprofessional seminars were rated more positively [M=2.11 (1 most positive and 5 most negative), SD=1, n=27] than the monoprofessional seminars [M=2.55, SD=0.98, n=90]. The key finding from the UWE-IP-D survey, comparing pre and post scores of the interprofessional (IP) (n=40) and monoprofessional (MP) groups (n=34), was that significant positive changes in mean scores for both groups towards communication, teamwork and interprofessional learning occurred. Conclusions: Lessons learnt included: a) recognising the benefit of being pragmatic when introducing interprofessional education initiatives, which enabled various logistical and attitudinal barriers to be overcome; b) quantitative evaluation of learning outcomes alone could not explain positive responses or potential influences of interprofessional aspects, which highlighted the need for a mixed methods approach, including qualitative methods, to enrich judgment formation on interprofessional educational outcomes.

Comprehension through cooperation: Medical students and physiotherapy apprentices learn in teams - Introducing interprofessional learning at the University Medical Centre Mannheim, Germany.

Aim: In order to better prepare future health care professionals for interprofessional cooperation, interprofessional learning sessions for medical students and physiotherapy apprentices were developed at the University Medical Centre Mannheim, Germany. The experience gained from designing, implementing and evaluating these learning sessions is presented and discussed.Method: A total of 265 medical students and 43 physiotherapy apprentices attended five interprofessional learning sessions. Of these, 87-100% responded to closed and open-ended questions on a self-developed questionnaire (24 items). The responses regarding self-reported learning gains, benefit, motivation and satisfaction with the sessions were analyzed separately by professions.Results: The learning sessions were well received by both groups. More than 75% of all participants were of the opinion that they could not have learned the new material in a better way.Significant differences between the medical students and the physiotherapy apprentices were mainly found with regard to perceived learning gains, which physiotherapy apprentices reported as being lower.Positive aspects of interprofessionalism were most often emphasized in the responses to the open-ended questions. Most frequently criticized were organizational aspects and a lack of perceived learning gains.Conclusion: The introduction of interprofessional learning entails great effort in terms of organizational and administrative challenges. However, the project is considered worthwhile because the interprofessional aspects of the learning sessions were indeed valued by the participants. Permanently including and expanding interprofessional learning in the curricula of both professions longitudinally is therefore something to strive for.