The Role of Interprofessional Education within Healthcare Training

Alex Ponce, PharmD

Pharmacy Resident

University of Maryland Medical Center

What is interprofessional education?

According to the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education, interprofessional education is defined as education involving learners from two or more professions who create a joint learning environment1. It helps learners develop the knowledge and skills needed to interact and understand different professions. During these opportunities, it is important that each profession involved has an opportunity to contribute to the care plan, and that each member reflects upon the experience1. The ultimate goal of interprofessional education is to promote interdisciplinary teamwork so that students may continue these practices into the workforce in order to improve patient care1. At this point in time, several accrediting bodies for healthcare education now require the incorporation of interprofessional education in the curriculum, including the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy1.

What are advantages of interprofessional education?

Interprofessional education may provide many advantages to students in the healthcare field. The first potential benefit is that students may better understand the roles of different healthcare professionals2. In a study conducted by Cohen et al, a group of medicine students, nursing students, occupational therapy students, physical therapy students and other disciplines completed an evaluation before and after participating in an interprofessional event related to Parkinson’s disease3. There was significant improvement in self-perceived knowledge, understanding of the role of other healthcare professionals, and attitudes toward other disciplines in the post-group compared to the pre-group3.   Another advantage of interprofessional education is promoting the importance of communication2. In a study conducted by Brock et al, 149 pharmacy and physician assistant students completed evaluations before and after partaking in an interprofessional event surrounding an area of interest, such as adult care, pediatrics, or obstetrics4. This study found that in the post-education group, students perceived that their attitudes and knowledge toward team communication and motivation significantly improved2. A third advantage of interprofessional communication is it allows students of different professions to interact before entering the workforce2. By having a chance to interact and better understand the role of the various team members in a safe learning environment, it is suggested that students will be more likely to utilize an interdisciplinary approach later on in their careers1. This in turn provides many benefits for the healthcare system, including improved quality and patient safety.

What are barriers to interprofessional education?

Although there are many benefits to interprofessional education, there are many barriers educators face when trying to plan an event. One of the first barriers is logistics5,6. One of the core concepts of these events is to work with other disciplines. However, it may be difficult to coordinate with several departments to find an opportunity when all of the students would be available. Some schools may be geographically disadvantaged, meaning that they do not have students in other professions within a short distance5. Other institutions may have insufficient facilities to host the amount of people who wish to participate in the event5. Another challenge to coordinating an event is topic selection. The curriculum is different in each profession, so determining a topic that all students could contribute to the team may be difficult6. A third barrier would be lack of participation by one party. In a meta-analysis examining the barriers to an interprofessional event, one of the more frequent issues was that one of the committed parties decided to withdraw from the event6. This would be detrimental to the activity as each profession brings a unique aspect to the team. Additionally, many of the events are designed to utilize the skills of each discipline, so the concept or activity that was planned may no longer be able to be completed.

What are important factors when designing an interprofessional event?

The first step to developing a successful interprofessional event is to ensure that one’s own profession or department prioritizes interprofessional education and is interested in participating1. The identification of faculty members who are willing to serve as facilitators for the event early on will help provide foundational support. Next, it is beneficial to identify and establish relationships with different disciplines within one’s geographical area1. Once a relationship has been developed, one can determine their interest regarding participating in an event. Once the contributors are identified, create an interprofessional event development team utilizing members from each organization1. This committee will be responsible for the majority of the planning and execution of the event. When planning an activity, it is important to understand the audience. The committee should do its best to choose a topic that all participants should have had previous exposure1. When designing learning objectives, the objectives should be applicable to all professions involved and should not focus on concepts specific to clinical knowledge of one profession1. The activity should highlight to participants what each profession can bring to the team, and it should include a reflective portion so that each participant can self-assess their learning1. Next, the committee should identify the facilitators for the event and develop the logistics of the event such as where and when it will occur. Sometimes, it is best to start with smaller groups and then gradually increase participation1.  After the event has been completed, it is important for the committee to reflect about the execution of the event, such as what went well, what did not go well, and how it can be improved in the future. As more events are planned, the creators can adapt the activities from their previous experiences in order to become more effective and efficient at designing interprofessional activities.

References

1. Buring SM, Bhushan A, Broeseker A, et al. Interprofessional Education: Definitions, Student Competencies, and Guidelines for Implementation. Am J Pharm Educ. 2009 Jul 10;73(4):59.
2. Benefit of Interprofessional Education: Short- and Long-term [internet]. Johnson + Johnson. 2018 Jan 26. Available from: https://nursing.jnj.com/benefits-of-interprofessional-education-short-and-long-term
3. Guraya SY, Barr H. The effectiveness of interprofessional education in healthcare: A systematic review and meta-analysis. KJMS. 2018 Mar;34(3):160-5.
4. Brock D, Abu-Rish E, Chiu CR, et al. Interprofessional education in team communication: working together to improve patient safety. Postgrad Med J. 2013 Nov;89(1057):642-51.
5. Schapmire TJ, Head BA, Nash WA, et al. Overcoming barriers to interprofessional education in gerontology: the Interprofessional Curriculum for the Care of Older Adults. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2018;9:109-118.
6. Sunguya BF, Hinthong W, Jimba M, et al. Interprofessional Education for Whom? – Challenges and Lessons Learned from Its Implementation in Developed Countries and Their Application to Developing Countries: A Systematic Review. PLOS ONE. 2014 May 8; 9(5): e96724.