Interprofessional Communication (IPC) for Medical Students: A Scoping Review

Abstract

BACKGROUND Interprofessional communication (IPC) improves patient care, cost efficiency and improves teamwork among healthcare professionals. For medical students IPC training is crucial to navigating complex healthcare practices yet there is little consistency to IPC training. This scoping review looks at IPC training approaches for medical students to improve preparedness for clinical practice.METHODS Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework for scoping review was used to guide this review of articles on IPC training for medical students published between 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2017 in PubMed, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Google Scholar, ERIC, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, Mednar and OpenGrey. A ‘split approach’ that sees concurrent independent use of a directed content analysis and Braun and Clarke’s approach to thematic approach was employed by different members of the research team to scrutinize the data.RESULTS 17,493 titles and abstracts were found, 250 full-text articles were reviewed and 70 full text articles were included. The ‘split approach’ to analysis forwarded similar themes that corresponded with the different levels of Miller’s Pyramid. These were “Knows”, “Knows How”, “Shows how” and “Does”. Each stage involves particular training modalities and context appropriate modes of assessments to measure medical students’ competency levels. IPC training was found to be well received, positive, increased students’ understanding and practice of communication. Obstacles to IPC training include scheduling constraints, inexperienced and untrained teachers, and initial anxiety and adjustment for students.CONCLUSIONS This scoping review reveals IPC training to be competency and assessment based, and dependent upon learning objectives and a clear alignment of expectations. Faculty training, a conducive learning environment tailored to the learner, and effective assessment methods at each training stage are crucial to the success of IPC training. Further evaluations are recommended to ensure the translatability of these findings to other medical specialities and other healthcare professions.