Interprofessional Education: An Approach to Improve Healthcare Outcomes

Interprofessional education (IPE) approach allows learners from different health professions viz. – medical, dental, nursing,physiotherapy, psychotherapy, psychology etc., learn from, learn with, and learn about, each other. The scope of learning depends uponthe requirements and curriculum. Interprofessional education can help in creating a workforce that learns to perform collaborativepractice thereby ensuring better health-care outcomes. Medical educators’ and practitioners’ understanding about teaching, learning,and assessment of IPE is rudimentary. Strategies to incorporate IPE in regular curricula need to be debated and barriers associated withits implementation require to be identified. This review highlights the teaching-learning and assessment tools for IPE and discussespotential challenges in its implementation.

Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum / 한국의학교육

PURPOSE: This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. METHODS: A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken. A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. RESULTS: Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students.

Evaluation of a personal and professional development module in an undergraduate medical curriculum in India / 한국의학교육

The study aimed at evaluating the personal and professional development (PPD) module in the undergraduate medical curriculum in Melaka Manipal Medical College, India. PPD hours were incorporated in the curriculum. A team of faculty members and a faculty coordinator identified relevant topics and students were introduced to topics such as medical humanities, leadership skills, communication skills, ethics, professional behavior, and patient narratives. The module was evaluated using a prevalidated course feedback questionnaire which was administered to three consecutive batches of students from March 2011 to March 2013. To analyze faculty perspectives, one to one in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted by the coordinators with faculty members who conducted the PPD classes. Analysis of the course feedback form revealed that majority (80%) of students agreed that the module was well prepared and was "highly relevant" to the profession. Faculty found the topics new and interdisciplinary and there was a sense of sharing responsibility and workload by the faculty. PPD modules are necessary components of the curriculum and help to mould students while they are still acquiescent as they assume their roles as doctors of the future.