Interprofessional Education Research Articles

Learning, teaching and assessment in health professional education and scholarship in the next 50 years

This paper explores how health professional education and scholarship is likely to evolve over the next 50 years. Recognising the ambitious nature of this goal, we have adopted an approach of “looking back to predict the future”, drawing on past trends and lessons learnt to offer some predictions and recommendations. In doing so, we are mindful that recent advances in technology, especially related to generative artificial intelligence (AI), have added a further layer of complexity. The rapid rate of maturation of these technologies and the accompanying array of AI-based software solutions suggest that the educational landscape is likely to change dramatically—and continuously—over the foreseeable future. Within this context, it may seem premature to predict the future or make recommendations. However, in this paper we argue that urgent action is needed by educators to engage with the evolving landscape and to proactively develop models to harness the full potential of emerging technologies. Six themes are addressed, including: 1) the evolving role of educators and education providers, 2) innovative educational models and ethical frameworks, 3) future-focused competencies, 4) authentic assessment, 5) interprofessional education and 6) educational scholarship. This paper proposes a set of recommendations with the intention of stimulating critical discourse that can potentially lead to ongoing exploration of relevant issues.

Opportunities and Challenges of Interprofessional Education: Postgraduate Nurse Practitioner and Physician Residency

Interprofessional teams improve patient outcomes and job satisfaction, yet placing health care professionals together does not produce effective collaboration. A qualitative study was conducted to evaluate the success and challenges of an interprofessional nurse practitioner (NP) residency. Key stakeholders were interviewed to determine the perceived success and challenges of an interprofessional-based NP residency. Qualitative thematic content analysis revealed 6 themes, including a high level of satisfaction among key stakeholders. Results suggested formal interprofessional training/interprofessional team-based care is effective and leads to improved relationships; however, because of perceptions of hierarchy and role confusion, interprofessional education may have to span longer than the current 1-year postgraduate NP residency.

Interprofessional Education: A Concept Analysis at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Background:This study investigates the challenges and solutions in implementing Interprofessional Education (IPE) within the nursing curriculum at a Hispanic-Serving Academic Institution in Bronx, New York.Objective:To explore how IPE can bridge gaps in healthcare education by fostering collaboration among students from various disciplines.Methods:The authors developed workshops and simulation cases involving multiple healthcare disciplines to address barriers such as course context differences, faculty workload, institutional barriers, and hierarchical culture in healthcare.Findings:The results showed positive impacts of IPE within the nursing program, with successful collaborations among nursing, social work, speech language and hearing sciences, health services administration, and exercise science students.Conclusions:The study highlights the transformative potential of IPE in healthcare education, emphasizing the need for a multifaceted approach to address individual, faculty, and structural barriers and offering insights for enhancing collaboration, communication, and cultural sensitivity among future healthcare professionals.

Experiencing and enduring patient distress: the distress of palliative care patients and its emotional impact on physicians in training

BackgroundThe extreme vulnerability experienced by patients in palliative care may result in significant distress. These patients require appropriate care while not pathologizing their natural distress. Given the challenges of caring for people experiencing significant distress, it is important to understand what professionals in training may feel when caring for patients in palliative care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore how professionals in training feel when confronted with the distress of patients undergoing palliative care.MethodsA qualitative study employing interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted. In 2022, 11 physicians in training were interviewed about their experiences with distressed patients due to palliative care. The interviews were conducted via video conference. The students participated in the national palliative care cross-training and were in their final year of residency training.ResultsThe interviews revealed the following five themes: feelings of powerlessness, duty to act, difficulty in building a relationship, feeling insecure about oneself, and creating a space for listening and relating. All participants felt powerless in front of their patient’s distress. Numerous defense mechanisms were identified that made the relationship with the patient difficult. Four participants described being able to create a space for listening and relating to their patients.ConclusionsA minority of students could establish a quality relationship with their distressed patients. Two concepts, interprofessional education and the patient-centered approach, were identified and could be developed in training.

Problem-Based Learning for Interprofessional Education: A Review of the Concept and Its Application in a Geriatric Team.

The global population is aging, with those aged 65 years or over increasing in number and accounting for a growing share of the population. There are increasing demands for geriatric care which makes the development and delivery of effective geriatric team training a priority. Training in geriatrics is complex because of the multiplicity of medical, psychosocial, and functional issues in elderly individuals which need to be addressed by a multidisciplinary approach using interprofessional education (IPE). Problem-based learning, a student-centered educational model that brings several natural strengths to IPE, is a unique curriculum replacing the traditional lecture-based learning model. This model enhances physician competency after graduation, mainly in psychosocial and teamwork issues that are fundamentally essential for geriatrics. IPE has been shown to have a substantial positive impact on team collaboration, individual development, and healthcare improvement. In this paper, we summarize the current findings from recent studies on training professionals from different healthcare disciplines to deliver care for the elderly in collaborative practice. We also discuss if an interprofessional problem-based geriatric team program in geriatrics is a promising solution to enhance professional collaboration and quality of patient care.

The Evolution of Collaboration Skills Research in Education : Trends, Intellectual Structure, and Research Topics

This study aims to examine the evolution of collaboration skills in the field of education including publication trends, intellectual structure, and research topics. This study uses the bibliometric method which is part of the literature review, with descriptive data analysis. Analysis was carried out on 723 documents from the Scopus database that had been selected. The results show that the trend of document publications on collaboration skills began to increase at the beginning of the 2001s until reaching the highest number of publications in 2023 with 104 documents. In the early period (1986-2004), there were five schools of thought that became the foundation of its intellectual structure, namely the practice of collaboration, small group learning, learning theory and its implementation, software design, and engineering studies. Meanwhile, in the next period (2005-2023) there are learning theory and its implementation, collaborative learning, interprofessional education, cooperative learning, and computer-supported learning. If the schools of thought in the two periods are compared, it can be seen that there has been an evolution of the intellectual structure of collaboration skills. Evolution also occurred in the collaboration skills research topics, which can be seen from the keywords data that often appeared in the early period, namely active learning, communication skills, and cooperative learning. In the following period, it changed to collaboration, interprofessional education, and higher education. These research findings can provide information regarding the knowledge base of collaboration skills and related research topics that have been carried out.

Interprofessional collaboration practices: Health worker’s perceptions in private hospital Surabaya

Background: The quality of services provided by hospitals is the responsibility of a group of multi-professional teams working with different professional backgrounds, resulting in inter-professional conflicts that cause losses. To produce quality services, building Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) among health workers is very important. One of the challenges that prevents the implementation of IPC from working efficiently is the varying opinions of health workers regarding interprofessional collaboration activities. Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the attitudes of health workers concerning the practice of IPC in hospitals. Method: This research was an observational study employing a cross-sectional strategy. Health workers' impressions of interprofessional cooperation practices were analysed using the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool for health workers. Result: This study involved 105 health professional respondents. The findings of the questionnaire analysis indicated significant differences in the domain of Relationship among Team Members (p 0.027), Team Relationship with the Community (p 0.012), Leadership (p 0.009), and Mission, Goals, and Objectives (p 0.001). Conclusion: Based on research findings, there are differences in perceptions among health workers because each professional competency domain is different. Therefore, interprofessional education is necessary to illustrate the implementation of collaborative practices across various professions.

Attitude and readiness of utilizing virtual reality simulations in interprofessional education to facilitate prompt and safe hospital discharges in England

ABSTRACT It can be challenging in England to provide interprofessional education (IPE) in hospitals due to practitioners’ availability, high workload, difficulty to backfill, and training costs. Furthermore, most of the IPE training is facilitated by a didactic teaching strategy in a classroom which fails to engage practitioners to understand each other roles and responsibilities, work procedures, policies, issues related to resources, and their pressure points. Technological innovation, in particular virtual reality has opened up a door to overcome these challenges by enabling practitioners to access IPE virtually, and it provides an immersive experience to them. It is not clear whether health and social care practitioners in England would accept and be ready to embrace this type of technology. Hence, this research study aims to understand attitudes and readiness to access virtual reality simulations (VRS) as a teaching modality and pedagogical tool. Health and social care practitioners (n = 22) attended two focus groups after engaging in a VRS and agreed that it could give them valuable learning experiences where they would be able to learn and practice soft skills in a safe environment to discharge people promptly and safely.

Teaching global interdependence to health professions students during the Anthropocene epoch: Findings from documentary analysis of an interprofessional education course

Aim(s)To examine the effects of new course material that incorporated the Anthropocene and The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) 'Climate Effects on Health' framework into an IPE course to enhance students' understanding global interdependence. BackgroundTeaching global interdependence with a suitable framework and relevant content in an introductory Interprofessional Education course in undergraduate programs is challenging when these early learners who do not have significant clinical experience. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt these courses to provide a framework that all students can relate to regardless of previous experience. DesignThe design for this study was qualitative document analysis. MethodThe required introductory IPE course was for students on the programs offered by the College of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing. Students (n = 142) from seven health professions programs, including athletic training (n=9), nursing (n=70), nutrition and dietetics (n=8), occupational therapy (n=15), physical therapy (n=31), radiation therapy (n=2) and magnetic resonance imaging and pre-professional students from other majors (n=5) were enrolled in this IPE course. The study used data derived from the final reflections submitted by the students. The CQI analysis focused on students enrolled in a dedicated interprofessional course related to health professions. ResultsWays interprofessional teams can address global challenges like the Anthropocene, climate-related illnesses and severe weather events were revealed in student responses. Three themes that emerged from the student responses included: public health collaborations, holistic health promotion and policy advocacy. ConclusionIncorporating the concept of Anthropocene and the 'Climate Effects on Health' framework into an IPE course can be a promising approach to shaping students' perception and enhancing their knowledge about global interdependence. By doing so, students can gain a deeper understanding of how human activities have an impact on the climate and ecology of the planet and how severe weather can lead to various health problems.

Accreditation of medical education in Brazil: an evaluation of seventy-six medical schools

BackgroundWe present the first results of the Accreditation System of Medical Schools (Sistema de Acreditação de Escolas Médicas – SAEME) in Brazil.MethodsWe evaluated the results of the accreditation of medical schools from 2015 to 2023. The self-evaluation form of the SAEME is specific for medical education programs and has eighty domains, which results in final decisions that are sufficient or insufficient for each domain. We evaluated the results of the first seventy-six medical schools evaluated by the SAEME.ResultsFifty-five medical schools (72.4%) were accredited, and 21 (27.6%) were not. Seventy-two (94.7%) medical schools were considered sufficient in social accountability, 93.4% in integration with the family health program, 75.0% in faculty development programs and 78.9% in environmental sustainability. There was an emphasis on SAEME in student well-being, with seventeen domains in this area, and 71.7% of these domains were sufficient. The areas with the lowest levels of sufficiency were interprofessional education, mentoring programs, student assessment and weekly distribution of educational activities.ConclusionMedical schools in Brazil are strongly committed to social accountability, integration with the national health system, environmental sustainability and student well-being programs. SAEME is moving from episodic evaluations of medical schools to continuous quality improvement policies.

Exploring the Use of Student–Professional Simulation-Based Interprofessional Education: A Preliminary Qualitative Study

Exploring the Use of Student–Professional Simulation-Based Interprofessional Education: A Preliminary Qualitative Study

The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience: An Effective Interprofessional Education Activity for Prelicensure Health Professional Students.

For future success in the modern health care environment, health professions students require effective interprofessional education experiences to develop their perceptions of other professionals on the health care team. The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience (ISPE) is an interprofessional education activity for prelicensure health professional students in nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, medicine, social work, and occupational therapy. The ISPE involved collaboration among students to conduct a subjective interview. Students from six health care professions individually interviewed a simulated patient while being observed by students from other professions. A structured faculty-guided debriefing session followed the comprehensive interview process. Students completed a voluntary pre- and post-ISPE survey with interprofessional questions and feedback on the activity. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze individual responses. Differences in student opinions by student profession and by the number of professions present were examined using chi-square tests. Over 4 consecutive academic years, 1,265 students completed the ISPE, and 1,028 completed the pre- and post-ISPE surveys. Analysis of the survey responses indicated that the ISPE enhanced student awareness of the functions of an interprofessional team and increased student knowledge of the roles of different health care professions. Students rated the ISPE as a valuable experience. Differences were noted in some of the measures by profession and group size. A single ISPE had a significant impact on prelicensure students' perceptions. The ISPE is a novel and effective approach to interprofessional education that students appreciate.

Examining Social Work Engagement in Healthcare-Focused Interprofessional Education: A Systematic Scoping Review

ABSTRACT Social workers frequent interprofessional healthcare teams. However, there are no identified systematic reviews to analyze efforts in social work education to engage in healthcare-focused interprofessional education (IPE). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for a systematic scoping review were utilized for reporting purposes. Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework was used to 1) identify the research question, 2) identify relevant studies, 3) select relevant studies, 4) chart the data, and 5) report results. The final analysis included 49 articles. During data extraction, the following categories were utilized to organize findings: 1) Attitudes, 2) Infrastructure development, 3) Descriptive articles, and 4) Outcomes studies. Most of the IPE interventions include IPE courses, events, and fellowships. The majority of studies provided favorable results for IPE. Infrastructure and institutional support is critical to successful IPE implementation. More research is needed utilizing rigorous designs to assess the longitudinal efficacy of IPE interventions.

Exploring dental and oral hygiene students’ interprofessional readiness: a cross-sectional study in joint paediatric outreach training

BackgroundInterprofessional education is vital in oral healthcare education and should be integrated into both theoretical and work-based education. Little research addresses interprofessional education in dental hands-on training in authentic oral healthcare settings. The aim of the study was to examine the readiness and attitudes of dental and oral hygiene students towards interprofessional education during joint paediatric outreach training.MethodsIn the spring of 2022, a cross-sectional study was done involving dental and oral hygiene students using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) during joint paediatric outreach training. The 19-item tool was answered on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree). Means, standard deviations, minimums, maximums, and medians were calculated for each subscale and overall score. Students grouped according to their categorical variables were compared for statistically significant differences. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for groups of two and the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis for groups of three or more. The internal consistency of the scale was measured with Cronbach’s alpha. Statistical level was set at 0.05.ResultsThe survey included 111 participants, consisting of 51 oral hygiene students and 60 dental students, with a response rate of 93%. The questionnaire yielded a high overall mean score of 4.2. Both oral hygiene (4.3) and dental students (4.2) displayed strong readiness for interprofessional education measured by the RIPLS. The subscale of teamwork and collaboration achieved the highest score of 4.5. Students lacking prior healthcare education or work experience obtained higher RIPLS scores. Oral hygiene students rated overall items (p = 0.019) and the subscales of positive professional identity (p = < 0.001) and roles and responsibilities (p = 0.038) higher than dental students. The Cronbach’s alpha represented high internal consistency for overall RIPLS scores on the scale (0.812).ConclusionsBoth oral hygiene and dental students perceived shared learning as beneficial and showcased high readiness for interprofessional education, as evident in their RIPLS scores. Integrating interprofessional learning into oral hygiene and dental curricula is important. Studying together can form a good basis for future working life collaboration.

The perspectives of first-year students on interprofessional education as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3

Background. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a blueprint for world peace and prosperity. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the agenda are to be met by the governments of both developed and developing countries. Interprofessional education (IPE) may be regarded as a mechanism for achieving SDG 3. Objectives. To investigate how students perceive an interprofessional first-year curriculum that contributes to the accomplishment of SDG 3. Methods. The study design was focused on consensus-building strategies. The students’ perceptions of the IPE part of the first-year module were measured on a 4-point Likert scale. Results. Students agreed that the content in the interprofessional module is suitable to promote teamwork skills and learning. There was no consensus regarding their understanding of the role of their own profession in an interprofessional team. Participants agreed that IPE helps students learn, encourages teamwork, and is good for both patients and themselves as future healthcare workers. Conclusion. IPE in health professions education has many benefits and can be seen as a vehicle to reach SDG 3, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of all people at all ages.

Preparing clinicians for practice: effectiveness and design of on-call simulation

BackgroundFinal year medical students and postgraduate doctors regularly contend with feelings of under-preparedness when transitioning into new areas of clinical practice. This lack of confidence is most evident in the context of on-call work which frequently requires sound clinical prioritisation, rigorous decision making and the management of acutely unwell patients, often with reduced senior support and staffing. This has prompted the emergence of on-call simulation which seeks to enhance participant confidence in performing on-call tasks and facilitate the development of key clinical and non-technical skills. This narrative review examined the use of on-call simulation in medical student and newly qualified doctor cohorts, its effectiveness in achieving its stated outcomes and to identify novel areas for the development of existing models.MethodA search strategy was developed in conjunction with a specialist medical librarian. OVID Medline and Embase searches identified articles related to the use and design of on-call simulation in medical education with no restrictions placed upon date or language of publication. Key findings from articles were summarised to develop comprehensive themes for discussion.ResultsTwenty Three unique publications were reviewed which unanimously reported that on-call simulation had a positive effect on self-reported participant confidence in performing on-call roles. Furthermore the value on-call simulation when used as an induction activity was also evident. However, there was limited evidence around improved patient and performance outcomes following simulation. It also remains resource intensive as an educational tool and there is a distinct absence of interprofessional education in current models.ConclusionsWe concluded that on-call simulation must adopt an interprofessional educational approach, incorporating other clinical roles. Further studies are needed to characterise the impact on patient outcomes. It remains highly useful as a confidence-boosting induction activity, particularly in specialities where clinical exposure is limited. Virtual and tabletop simulation formats, could potentially address the resource burden of manikin-based models, particularly with ever growing demands on medical educators and the expansion of training posts.

Community-based medical education (CBME), community comprehensive care education, and interprofessional education (IPE) in Japan: An exploration of their implementation

Introduction Medical education globally has evolved, with community-based medical education (CBME) and interprofessional education (IPE). This study aimed to explore the implementation of CBME, community comprehensive education, and IPE in Japan. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted across all Japanese medical universities in 2021. Data on CBME clinical clerkships, community comprehensive care education, and IPE were collected from 82 medical universities using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results The study achieved a 100% response rate. 91.5% of universities offered CBME clinical clerkships, with 39.0% providing training periods up to 10 d. Outpatient practices were the primary CBME location in 90% of cases. 85.4% of institutions provided clinical care services, home medical care, and interprofessional collaboration. Direct observations were adopted 85.4% of the universities as an assessment method. Community comprehensive care education peaked in the fourth year (32.9%), while IPE was most prevalent in the first year (48.3%), followed by the fourth year (35.4%). Conclusion This study, notable for its 100% response rate, highlights the significant incorporation of CBME. Future research should focus on the long-term effects, with recommendations for standardizing CBME curricula and enhancing staff development in a community to improve healthcare outcomes.

Caring Behavior and Compassion Competence and their Association with Readiness for Interprofessional Education Among Student Nurses

Caring Behavior and Compassion Competence and their Association with Readiness for Interprofessional Education Among Student Nurses

Queensland Trauma Education (QTE): an innovative simulation program that addresses the needs and barriers of interprofessional trauma care education across a complex landscape.

Effective trauma care requires the rapid management of injuries. Rural and remote areas face inequity in trauma care due to time, distance and resource constraints, and experience higher morbidity and mortality rates than urban settings. A training needs analysis (TNA) conducted with stakeholders across Queensland, Australia, revealed a lack of contextual, accessible and interprofessional trauma education for clinicians. The Clinical Skills Development Service and Jamieson Trauma Institute developed the Queensland Trauma Education (QTE) program to address these concerns. QTE comprises a face-to-face training course and open access to online training resources created and reviewed by trauma experts. QTE also supports local training through a statewide simulation network and free access to simulation training equipment. The aim of this article is to review the QTE program and assess the benefits to clinicians in both the delivery of education and the provision of trauma care. To evaluate the QTE program, a desktop review was conducted. This included analyses of website data, course and website content, and facilitator, stakeholder, participant and user feedback. The data were evaluated using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework, and the program's alignment with the original TNA outcomes was assessed. The results showed that QTE aligns with the identified training needs. Specifically, QTE provides trauma education that is relevant, sustainable, employs best practice, is locally delivered, provides continuous support, is multidisciplinary, multi-platformed, physically accessible and accredited by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. The review also highlights how QTE has effectively been reaching its target population, improves knowledge and skills, has become widely adopted, and been implemented and maintained with relative success. The innovative QTE program addresses the previous deficits in trauma education and meets the needs identified in the TNA. The review also reveals further opportunities for continuous improvement and program sustainability.

Finding the place for nutrition in healthcare education and practice

BackgroundMalnutrition continues to impact healthcare outcomes, quality of life and costs to healthcare systems. The implementation of nutrition care in healthcare practice may improve health outcomes for patients and the...