Changes in Student Attitudes toward Interprofessional Education after Online and In-Person Introductory Learning Activities

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONAlthough introductory interprofessional education (IPE) experiences offered in a variety of formats can be beneficial to students, there is little research evaluating students' attitudes throughout a sequence of introductory IPE activities. Further, the impact of academic level, gender and race on student attitudes about IPE is not known, particularly when students from a diverse range of health profession programs participate together in introductory IPE experiences.METHODS A sequenced, two-part introductory IPE experience comprising a 90 minute online module followed by a 2-hour faceto-face event was delivered to health science students on three campuses at a large Midwestern university. Student attitudes about IPE based on SPICE-R2 scores were compared before and after the online module and after the in-person event. Paired t-tests were used to determine differences between time points, and linear regression was used to estimate the effects of academic level, gender and race. RESULTSThe online course had a significant, positive impact on all students' attitudes about IPE with the greatest changes for the Roles subdomain. Improvements in student attitudes about IPE following the online course were retained after the in-person event. Student responses differed between academic levels and genders, but not race. CONCLUSIONThe initial, online component of the sequenced introductory IPE experience was more impactful on student attitudes about IPE than the subsequent in-person component. Student responses differed between academic levels and genders, suggesting that these factors should be considered when designing introductory IPE experiences for a broad range of participants.

Socialisation into interprofessional teams: A mixed-methods study among early health professional learners who engaged in a teams and teamwork module / Sozialisierung in interprofessionellen Teams: Eine Mixed-Methods-Studie zum Effekt eines Team- und Teamwork-Moduls bei Auszubildenden im Gesundheitswesen

“…The physical therapy students were early doctoral students, while the kinesiology and nursing students were undergraduates, thus perhaps placing groups with these age and actual experience differentials within the discipline may have contributed to this decrease. The students' perceptions of socialisation also parallel those reported in the literature in which women and the nursing discipline showed more positive attitudes towards teamwork (Gross et al, 2022;Mishoe et al, 2021;Mishoe et al, 2018;Hood et al, 2014). Furthermore, the nursing discipline is shown to have higher engagement and emphasis on IPE, which may also contribute to the socialisation findings (Herath et al, 2017;Mishoe et al, 2021).…”

“…Furthermore, measuring socialisation by evaluating students' beliefs and values regarding interprofessional collaboration can reveal whether IPE is having the intended impact on the development of professional and interprofessional identities (King et al, 2016). Across IPE interventions, especially at the introductory level, student evaluations are focused on their attitudes towards IPE or their perceived satisfaction with the experience (Curran et al, 2010;Cameron et al, 2009;Khalili et al, 2013;Simko et al, 2017;Gross et al 2022). Although it is important to understand whether health profession students have positive attitudes towards their IPE experiences, established tools exist that measure outcomes beyond attitudes such as team collaboration, team behaviour skills, and socialisation (Hayward et al, 2014;Stock et al, 2013).…”