Dissecting through barriers: A mixed‐methods study on the effect of interprofessional education in a dissection course with healthcare professional students

Abstract

Healthcare delivery is reliant on a team-based approach, and interprofessional education (IPE) provides a means by which such collaboration skills can be fostered prior to entering the workplace. IPE within healthcare programs has been associated with improved collaborative behavior, patient care and satisfaction, reduced clinical error, and diminished negative professional stereotypes. An intensive interprofessional gross anatomy dissection course was created in 2009 to facilitate IPE at McMaster University. Data were collected from five cohorts over five years to determine the influence of this IPE format on the attitudes and perceptions of students towards other health professions. Each year, 28 students from the medicine, midwifery, nursing, physician's assistant, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy programs were randomly assigned into interprofessional teams for 10 weeks. Sessions involved an anatomy and scope-of-practice presentation, a small-group case-based session, and a dissection. A before/after design measured changes in attitudes and perceptions, while focus group data elaborated on the student experience with the course. Pre- and postmatched data revealed significant improvements in positive professional identity, competency and autonomy, role clarity and attitudes toward other health professions. Qualitative analysis of intraprofessional focus group interviews revealed meaningful improvements in a number of areas including learning anatomy, role clarity, and attitudes towards other health professions.

An Anatomy Massive Open Online Course as a Continuing Professional Development Tool for Healthcare Professionals

“…With the increased drive to incorporate IPE into medical curricula, and with clinical anatomy remaining a cornerstone of clinical practice, utilising a learning platform like a MOOC or SPOC offers new opportunities that are worthy of further exploration. Moreover, recent studies have highlighted how IPE undertaken with anatomy as a central focus can promote the team building and cultural shift required to work in a modern team-based healthcare system [56,57]. Furthemore, with the contextual learning that IPE offers, anatomy knowledge itself can be enhanced as the content is given immediate relevance which supports its retention [58,59].…”

Interprofessionality in the model courses of study for healthcare and nursing professions in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany / Interprofessionalität in den Modellstudiengängen der Pflege- und Gesundheitsberufe in Nordrhein-Westfalen

“…Somit orientieren sich die Entwicklungen der Modellstudiengänge im Hinblick auf Interprofessionalität an internationalen Studienmodellen (Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Newton et al, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;Wilhelmsson et al, 2009 (Sukhdeep, A. et al, 2017;Walkenhorst, 2016). Aus der didaktischen Perspektive bestimmen die Fokussierung auf das gewünschte Lernergebnis sowie die Voraussetzungen der Studierenden die Auswahl von Methodik, Setting und Zeitpunkt (Bergstermann et al, 2013 Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Newton et al, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;Wilhelmsson et al, 2009). Des Weiteren werden Methoden mit hohem Praxisbezug als besonders effektiv beschrieben (Herrmann et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;IPEC, 2011 (Cohen et al, 2015;Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014, Wilhelmsson et al, 2009).…”

“…Aus der didaktischen Perspektive bestimmen die Fokussierung auf das gewünschte Lernergebnis sowie die Voraussetzungen der Studierenden die Auswahl von Methodik, Setting und Zeitpunkt (Bergstermann et al, 2013 Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Newton et al, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;Wilhelmsson et al, 2009). Des Weiteren werden Methoden mit hohem Praxisbezug als besonders effektiv beschrieben (Herrmann et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;IPEC, 2011 (Cohen et al, 2015;Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014, Wilhelmsson et al, 2009). Da die Pflege-und Gesundheitsberufe in der Arbeitspraxis mit Medizinern/-innen zusammenarbeiten müssen, wäre die Einbindung von Studierenden der Medizin in interprofessionelle Ausbildungskonzepte grundsätzlich auch in Deutschland nach internationalem Vorbild wünschenswert (Wissenschaftsrat, 2012 …”

“…Eine interprofessionelle Ausbildung der Gesundheitsberufe gilt als innovative Strategie, um die Zusammenarbeit der Gesundheitsberufe zu fördern, dadurch das Gesundheitssystem zu stärken und bessere Ergebnisse an Patienten/-innen zu erzielen (WHO, 2010). International liegen viele effektive Modelle interprofessioneller Hochschul-Ausbildung in den Gesundheitsberufen vor (Fernandes et al, 2015;Herrmann et al, 2015;Newton et al, 2015;Reeves, 2015;Systma et al, 2015;Liaw et al, 2014;Wilhelmsson et al, 2009 (IPEC, 2011;WHO, 2010). Klinische Outcomes werden häufig mit interprofessionellem Lernen in der praktischen Arbeit mit Patienten/-innen assoziiert (IPEC, 2011).…”

Eighty Students, Five Cadavers, and Two Professors: Innovative Teaching Practices in an Undergraduate Human Gross Anatomy Course

“…It is becoming more and more common for primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) to offer cadaver-based anatomy courses to support programs with students majoring in physician assistant studies, pre-physical therapy, pre-medical, or other health occupation majors (Fernandes et al 2015, Johnson et al 2012, Kawashiro et al 2009). While some of these students will go on to matriculate at graduate or professional schools following their undergraduate experience and take cadaver-based anatomy a second time, a significant population of students will only be exposed to cadaver-based anatomy during their undergraduate career.…”