Regarding multidisciplinary education: / 医学教育

ABSTRACT

　Healthcare professionals need to understand the operational mechanisms that drive the team-care model. Although such concepts should be integrated into the education of healthcare students, but current methods of teaching such a model of care are unsatisfactory. In 2007 the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science of Kobe University introduced an early clinical exposure program focusing on team care for first-year students. In 2008, students of the school of pharmacy joined this program. We have developed a collaborative program, the Interprofessional Work tutorial program, for the fourth year of the undergraduate curriculum. As the history of collaborative education for healthcare students is relatively short, we faculty members continuously discuss how to develop this tutorial program. Simulated multidisciplinary team conferences have been introduced into this program to increase students’ understanding of the scenario. During the course of this program, students, as well as faculty members, come to understand the roles of other professionals and to consider collaboration to be fundamental for patient-centered treatment and care. Interprofessional education is essential for human resource development and for preparing future healthcare professionals to participate in interdisciplinary team care. We must integrate the community-based aspects of health and welfare into interprofessional education for health professional students.