Interprofessional Collaborative Practice in Professional and Residency Athletic Training Programs: A Report from the Association of Athletic Training Education Research Network

Abstract

Context Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is a required component of athletic training education, yet more needs to be learned about how professional and residency programs integrate IPCP into their curricula. Objective Identify current strategies used in the integration, assessment, and quality of IPCP clinical experiences in athletic training programs. Design Cross-sectional survey. Patients or Other Participants Forty-two of the 288 (14.6% response rate) invited individuals participated. All reported being faculty members affiliated with a professional or residency athletic training program. Data Collection and Analysis The IPCP implementation and assessment was e-mailed to all accredited professional and residency program directors to evaluate: (1) institutional or organizational support for and integration of IPCP; (2) faculty, learner, or preceptor preparation for IPCP engagement; and (3) tools for assessment and quality of IPCP experiences. Survey instrumentation was validated through peer and expert review. Descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative data, and open coding was used to analyze open-ended questions. Results Respondents reported favorable support from their institution or organization (administrative, financial, and organizational structure) to integrate IPCP experiences. The most common methods for IPCP implementation included clinical simulations (n = 22, 22.9%), grand rounds (n = 13, 13.5%), morbidity and mortality conferences (n = 3, 3.1%), journal clubs (n = 6, 6.3%), direct patient care (n = 14, 14.9%), and intentional clinical education experiences (n = 28, 29.2%). Respondents reported formal IPCP training for faculty (n = 7, 16.7%) and learners (n = 23, 54.8%) but not for preceptors (n = 25, 73.5%). While programs assess their learners’ IPCP experiences (n = 25, 59.5%), the quality of those experiences is not formally captured (n = 19, 45.2%). Conclusion(s) Interprofessional collaborative practice experiences within athletic training education continue to evolve. As such, in this study, we highlight the need for formalized training in IPCP for faculty, learners, and preceptors. Additionally, program faculty should consider implementing quality assessments of IPCP experiences to assess the quality and degree to which learners experience interprofessional collaboration.