Interprofessional learning: Perceptions of first year health students

Abstract

Background: Shared learning among health professional students has the potential to improve collaboration and reduce medical errors resulting in improved patient outcomes. While organizational difficulties pose significant challenges to implementing interprofessional learning, negative student attitudes may pose the greatest barrier to change. Thus, the aim of this qualitative study was to determine perceptions of first year health students (medical, nursing, and physician associate) toward interprofessional learning. Methods and findings: Content analysis was used to identify the repetitive themes regarding the facilitators and barriers to interprofessional education (IPE). Krippendorff's method was used to analyze comments written in an open-ended survey completed by first year medical (48/101 or 48%), nursing (59/81 or 73%) and physician associate (19/35 or 54%) students representing a response rate of 58% from one university in New England. Conclusions: Five interrelated themes emerged: Barriers included: History as prologue and Misunderstanding of "others", versus Resistance to "others". Facilitators included: Personal characteristics, Professional characteristics and Educational characteristics. Unique to medical students is Self-conscious emotions, while Optimism is unique to nursing students. While students may be ready to transform our educational systems, attention must be focused on the learning environment and complex factors that will facilitate this transformation.

A multidisciplinary learning experience contributing to mental health rehabilitation

“…Their understanding and empathy towards people with a mental illness increased, they developed practical skills, appreciated and learnt how to establish and maintain therapeutic relationships, and discovered the importance of lived experience. The significance of these realisations are supported by findings from Honan et al's [11] study of the perceptions of first year health students on interprofessional education. They found that health students are 'ready and willing' to participate in interprofessional education opportunities.…”

“…They found that health students are 'ready and willing' to participate in interprofessional education opportunities. Honan et al [11] (p. 46) contend that 'the most difficult part of instituting interprofessional education may not be in the mindsets of students, but in changing attitudes and perspectives among those already working and teaching in the professions. '…”

“…' Mann et al [10] explain that a fully integrated educational experience, which involves a number of health disciplines in joint learning experiences, is what is needed to effectively prepare health professionals to work collaboratively in health care teams. Honan et al [11] goes onto argue that not only can shared learning among health professional students improve collaboration, but it can also improve patient outcomes. McAllister et al [6] discuss recent evidence which shows that when future health professional students are well-prepared for MDTs, they appreciate the skills and ideas that others can bring to patient care, as well as develop person-centered collaborative skills.…”

Interprofessional education development: not for the faint of heart

“…We remedied this by inviting a panel of seasoned physicians, PAs and APRNs in a large group venue to explain their education and scopes of practice. Students were given the opportunity to comment and ask questions, and it was clear that their own clinical experiences were most valuable to their understanding of one another’s professional roles 17. Our goal was not meant to remove differences or blur roles of the various health care providers but to recognize the importance of each provider’s contributions and strengths.…”

Suitability of the RIPLS and IEPS for Discriminating Attitude Differences towards Interprofessional Education among Students of Healthcare Profession

“…Implementing IPE in healthcare professional education, especially at the undergraduate level, is a step forward to prepare the students to face the challenges in actual practice in the future. Previous reports suggested that there is a multitude of barriers to IPE implementation, including structural and organizational conflicts related to program length and size [5,[9][10][11]. Gender, ethnicity, profession, and previous work experience in health and social care environments have significant role in predicting baseline professional identity [12][13][14][15].…”