Effects of an Interprofessional Project on Students' Perspectives on Interprofessional Education and Knowledge of Health Disciplines

Abstract

Context: Interprofessional education (IPE) is encouraged in health care education in the hope that it will improve communication among future health care professionals. In response, health professional education programs are developing IPE curricula. Objective: To determine if a multicourse interprofessional (IP) project impacted students' knowledge and views on other health care professions, as well as their attitudes toward IPE. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Four university classrooms. Patients or Other Participants: Eighty-one undergraduate students (32 men, 49 women) from 4 introductory courses (2 athletic training sections, 41 students; 1 health administration section, 19 students; and 1 nursing section, 21 students) participated in 2 surveys and an IP project. Main Outcome Measure(s): Participants completed a modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire. The faculty assigned students to an IP group with representation from each discipline. Groups were instructed to produce a presentation on an assigned health care profession. After completing the project, students completed the same modified RIPLS questionnaire. Means and frequency were calculated. Quantitative data were analyzed with analysis of variance followed by Tukey post hoc testing when appropriate. Results: After the IP project, students from all disciplines reported an increased knowledge regarding nursing, health administration, athletic training, and other health care professions in general and how their discipline differed from other health care disciplines. All students agreed that they should practice communication with other health care disciplines. Other perceptions related to IPE did not change. Conclusions: Undergraduate athletic training, health administration, and nursing students who completed an IP project reportedly increased their knowledge of health care disciplines and increased their appreciation for practicing communication among health care disciplines. Future studies should assess how increasing basic knowledge of health care professions may impact the integration of advanced IPE concepts later in one's professional education.