Designing and Evaluating an Interprofessional Experiential Course Series Involving Medical and Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Objective. To prepare first-year and second-year pharmacy and medical students to build effective collaborative health care teams by participating in an interprofessional experiential 6-semester course series.Design. An interprofessional experiential course series was designed using a variety of teaching methods to achieve both interprofessional and experiential learning outcomes. A standardized objective behavioral assessment was developed to measure team performance of interprofessional communication and teamwork. In addition, student perceptions were measured using a validated instrument. Assessment. A majority of teams demonstrated appropriate competence with respect to interprofessional communication and teamwork. Additionally, a majority of students expressed positive perceptions of interprofessional collaboration with respect to teamwork, roles and responsibilities, and patient outcomes.Conclusion. An interprofessional experiential course series can be successfully implemented to achieve both interprofessional and experiential learning outcomes. Highly collaborative teams and positive student perceptions provide evidence of achievement of interprofessional education learning outcomes.Keywords: interprofessional education, behaviors, perceptions, SPICE, assessment INTRODUCTIONExperiential education is a methodology involving the incorporation of learners into direct practice experiences and guided reflective observations with the goal of increasing student knowledge and professional abilities such as skills, attitudes, and behaviors. 1 Interprofessional education (IPE) is a pedagogical approach that engages students of various health professions, dedicated to the introduction, reinforcement, and mastery of core competencies for provision of patient care in a collaborative team environment. 2 Both experiential education and IPE are integral components of the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum supported by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE). 3 Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) outlines these required standards and specifically states that all students should competently "participate in experiential educational activities with prescribers/student prescribers and other student/professional health care team members, including face-to-face interactions that are designed to advance interprofessional team effectiveness." 4 Several instructional design formats for the delivery of IPE are reported in the literature. A review conducted by Abu-Rish and colleagues reviewed 83 eligible studies and found small group discussion and problem-based learning to be the most commonly used strategies, followed by experiential-based clinical teaching, simulation-based learning, and various other educational interventions. 5 Because of the variety of instructional design formats employed and the varying frequency of these activities throughout the curriculum (ie, one-time activities vs multiple activities throughout the ...

A Cross-Sectional Study Evaluating the Impact of One Year versus Two Years of Exposure to Interprofessional Education on Student Perceptions of Physician-Pharmacist Interprofessional Clinical Education (SPICE)

“…Additional details about the design of this course series and the standardized objective behavioral assessment were described previously. 14 …”

Evaluation of students’ attitudes towards pharmacist–physician collaboration in Brazil

“…This practice have shown a positive impact on patient care, health services and system improvement 4,5,6,7,8. That is why several studies highlight the need for collaborative practice between different health care professionals, including physicians and pharmacists 4,9,10,11,12,13…”

Designing and Evaluating an Interprofessional Practice Experience Involving Dental and Pharmacy Students

“…Scheduling and logistical challenges from previous experience in designing an interprofessional practice experience were expected. 15,35 By combining existing curricular requirements (IPPEs for pharmacy students and clinical training assignments for dental students) rather than incorporating an additional requirement into overcrowded curricula, these challenges were overcome. Another obstacle for the sustainability of this practice experience was faculty workload.…”

“…As a result, there are a variety of designs and implementation strategies reported in the literature. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Within the pharmacy curriculum, the expectations for introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) are that they "expose students to common contemporary U.S. practice models, including interprofessional practice involving shared patient care decision-making." Thus, it is reasonable to consider that incorporation of IPE into IPPEs could satisfy objectives for both experiences.…”