The Impact of an Interprofessional Pediatric Oral Health Clerkship on Advancing Interprofessional Education Outcomes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative pediatric interprofessional education clinical experience using oral‐systemic health as the clinical population example for improving the self‐reported interprofessional competencies of family nurse practitioner, dental, and medical students. The objectives of the interprofessional experience were for students to apply pediatric oral health assessment, identify the pediatric oral‐systemic connection, and practice a team‐based approach to improve oral‐systemic outcomes. In spring 2015, fall 2015, and spring 2016, a total of 162 family nurse practitioner, dental, and medical students participated in this interprofessional experience at Bellevue Pediatric Outpatient Clinics together with a pediatric dental resident. Team members collaborated in reviewing the patient chart, taking the patient's medical and dental history, performing an oral assessment, applying fluoride varnish, and providing education and anticipatory guidance. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) was used as a pretest and posttest to evaluate the degree to which students perceived changes in their attitudes about interprofessional competencies following the learning experience. In the results, all students had improved mean scores from pretest to posttest after the experience, and these changes were statistically significant for all students: nurse practitioner (p<0.01), dentistry (p<0.01), and medicine (p<0.001). The mean change from pretest to posttest was statistically significant for each of the six interprofessional competency domains (p<0.01). In both pediatric dental and primary care settings, the changes from pre‐ to posttest were significant (p<0.001). The experience was similarly effective for all groups of students in increasing their attitudes about interprofessional collaboration. These findings suggest that a clinical approach can be an effective strategy for helping health professions students develop interprofessional competence.

Assessing Self-Perceived Interprofessional Collaborative Competency on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences Through Interprofessional Simulations

“…7 Additionally, ICCAS is now being used to assess competence after being immersed in interprofessional practice-based settings as well. 12 The retrospective pre-post design can present with bias associated with social desirability, effort justification, and cognitive dissonance, which may have impacted the results. Moreover, the varying levels of education of students from the other professional schools could have also influenced the accuracy of the results.…”

Attaining interprofessional competencies by connecting oral health to overall health

“…Prior to 2016, there were very few IPE studies that included dental students; that has changed as accreditation requirements have increased both the interest and expansion of IPE 12 . Recent literature includes a more representative sample of IPE student initiatives comprised of dental, medical, and family nurse practitioner students 13 ; dental, medical, nursing, and pharmacy students 14 ; dental and medical students 12 ; nurse practitioner and dental students 15 ; nursing, medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and social work students 9 ; and nursing and dental hygiene students 16 …”

“…Reports of IPE experiences were either didactic, 17–19 clinical, 12,13,15,16 a combination of didactic and clinical, 14 simulation, 20,21 or workshops 9 . Studies used measurement strategies that ranged from pre‐post surveys using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scales (RIPLS), 12,17 the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS), 9,16,19–21 to semi‐structured interviews 8,22,23 …”

“…Regardless of clinical setting, students exposed to an IP experience in geriatrics, 15,26 dental assessment clinic, 12 or pediatric dental clinic 13 all showed positive attitudes toward IPE and statistically significant change from pre‐test to post‐test across all student groups using either the RIPLS 12 or ICCAS 13 . The ICCAS also demonstrated a similar significant change from pre‐test to post‐test when exposed to IP simulation experiences with nurse practitioner/midwifery, dental, medical, and pharmacy students 20,21 .…”

A Systematic Meta‐Analysis of the Effect of Interprofessional Education on Health Professions Students’ Attitudes

“…10 Some studies have reported that health professions students had improved ICCAS scores from pretest to posttest following their IPE experience, which suggested an effective IPE strategy could help students develop interprofessional competence. [11][12][13][14] In these teaching activities, it is very important to engage students in IPE and influence their attitudes towards this method because negative attitudes can hinder learning via IPE. 6 Tools such as the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) 15 and the extended version, 16 the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS), 17 have been used to evaluate attitudes about interprofessionalism.…”