In-Person or Online? Exploring Student Pharmacists' Perceived Change in Interprofessional Skills between Two Delivery Formats.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed how education is delivered. Many academic programs quickly transformed their curriculum to online distance learning. This rapid transition may have compromised the rigor and fidelity of these activities. The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience (ISPE) is an interprofessional education activity (IPE) involving a team of students from six different healthcare professions that switched to an online delivery format. This manuscript compares pharmacy students' perceived change in interprofessional skills between the two formats. Following the ISPE, second-year pharmacy students completed the revised Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS-R). The ICCAS-R assesses the change in interprofessional collaboration-related competencies in healthcare students before and after IPE training using a retrospective pre-post approach. For each ICCAS-R item and each delivery format (44 in-person and 51 online), paired Student's t-test on pre- and post-ISPE scores, and Cohen's d were calculated. Every item of the ICCAS-R was significant (p < 0.001), regardless of delivery format. Nearly all ICCAS-R items had a large effect size, and the remaining items had a medium effect size. The amount of change pre- and post-ISPE for each ICCAS-R item was calculated. Student's t-test was used to compare the magnitude of change in interprofessional skills between the two delivery formats. Only one difference was noted between the two delivery formats-ICCAS-R item 16, which measured actively listening to interprofessional team members (p = 0.0321). When switching to an online format, the high-fidelity dimension of the ISPE was retained. The ISPE is an effective IPE activity at increasing pharmacy students' self-perceived interprofessional collaboration skills regardless of delivery format. Even though students reported the ISPE increased their ability to actively listen to the perspectives of interprofessional team members in both formats, the magnitude of the benefit was more profound in the in-person group.

Results and lessons learned from a virtual multi-institutional problem-based interprofessional learning approach: The VIPE program.

The importance of interprofessional collaborative practice has come into focus over the past decade as coordination and delivery of health care becomes increasingly complex. The need for students to acquire collaboration-building skills to prepare them to work effectively within diverse healthcare teams to improve patient outcomes is a goal of interprofessional education (IPE). Accrediting bodies across healthcare professions require IPE as part of a robust curriculum to build collaborative skill sets and create a practice ready workforce. To respond to this need, an online healthcare program developed an innovative model for student collaboration across professions and institutions through a virtual interprofessional education (VIPE) program. The VIPE model aims to simulate clinical practice via an asynchronous and synchronous pedagogical approach that combines PBL/CBL with psychological safety. VIPE demonstrated statistically significant gains in knowledge and positive attitudes toward interprofessional collaborative practice as a result of participation in the VIPE program. During COVID-19, the demand for high quality IPE for health professions' students in virtual settings has grown, VIPE has the potential to be a solution for this. VIPE requires a dedicated committee and technical lead. Further research could involve longitudinal studies and nonaggregate models.

Does Online Interprofessional Case-Based Learning Facilitate Collaborative Knowledge Construction?

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has caused an impact on various sectors of life, including the education sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, education from various levels could only be carried out online by utilizing various on-line media. In Health professional education context, one of the learning activities that must be shifted in online format was interprofessional education (IPE) program. This study aimed to evaluate students' collaborative knowledge construction to evaluate the effectiveness of online interprofessional case-based learning (CBL) activities. Methods: This interventional study using quantitative and qualitative method involved a total of 476 students; consisted of 204 medical students, 39 midwifery students and 233 nursing students; who took part online interprofessional CBL. All students were divided into 34 mixed profession groups with 14 students each. To evaluate students' collaborative knowledge construction during CBL, data were collected using the Maastricht Peer Activity Rating Scale (MPARS). Qualitative data exploring students' perception regarding online IPE activity and their online CBL process were collected using Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Quantitative data were analysed using statistical tests, and the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Students' scores for constructive, collaborative, and motivational activities evaluated using MPARS were considered as average to high. However, nursing students scored the lowest compared to the other two fellow professions: medical and midwifery students, on all items of the MPARS. Medical students had the highest MPARS scores. Several themes could be explored during the FGD. Discussion: This study revealed that students could engage in collaborative knowledge construction in interprofessional education implementing online interprofessional CBL. However, students thought that offline collaborative practice will better improve team bonding which is considered as prominent aspect for collaboration. This thought gives idea to the implementation of hybrid online offline learning for IPE.

Interspecies Relations: SARS-CoV-2 Spillovers on Mink Farms

This essay argues for the need for research into multispecies relations at the intersection between international political economy, ecology, and disease emergence. It draws attention to the conditions of intensive agribusiness and modern livestock, which alter human-animal-microbe relations, facilitating the emergence of infectious diseases such as the case of mink farms and COVID-19. It also highlights the impact of infection on animals and farming economies. Through a discussion of the ways anthropogenic activities have historically changed the kinds, scale, and spread of human disease, the essay concludes with an appeal to rethink international political economy.

Why Ranting about the COVID-19 Economy as a Woman Sounds Different in Copenhagen and in Cincinnati

Before the covid-19 pandemic, significant advances have been made in the advanced industrialized economies toward greater gender equality in the workplace, especially since the 1990s. However, the first year of the pandemic has led to dramatic backsliding in gender equality even among countries that have adopted sizeable relief packages to combat the devastating economic effects of the pandemic. This commentary argues that the pandemic has reinforced existing vulnerabilities in IPE. The essay takes stock of government economic support measures in selected OECD economies. It then compares the government responses in two representative cases with very different welfare state legacies—Denmark as a case representative of the Nordic welfare state model and the USA as a case representative of the liberal welfare state model. The main finding is that the Nordic welfare state model has been more successful in protecting vulnerable social groups, such as women, in times of severe crisis. The contrast is especially visible if we compare the performance of Denmark in terms of maintaining female labor force participation during the pandemic with that of the USA, where women as a social group have been set back decades in terms of exit from the formal labor market as well as loss of job and career opportunities.

Initial Efforts to Manage IPE during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reports from the Big Ten Academic Alliance

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic required higher education institutions to quickly transition to a virtual platform. This was challenging for those involved in interprofessional education (IPE), given the goal that students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with one another. The Big Ten IPE Alliance is a subgroup of the larger Big Ten Academic Alliance. The purpose of this paper is to share the collective experiences of multiple large, research intensive universities in addressing the challenge of implementing IPE programs under the conditions established by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: To better understand how the Big Ten schools dealt with the transition to virtual learning for didactic and clinical IPE given the COVID-19 pandemic, a subset of representatives from the Big Ten IPE Alliance met to discuss best practices for virtual learning in the IPE realm. Each participating university completed an electronic 14 question survey related to their IPE curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 thru August 2020 and the responses were analyzed. Results: Four categories were identified as needing to be addressed to develop and implement successful interprofessional didactic and clinical experiences. The categories identified included content/assessment, virtual technologies, faculty and facilitators, and learners. Conclusions/Recommendations: Consider including authentic and innovative mechanisms to deliver IPE experiences that meet the learning needs and accreditation requirements. Interinstitutional collaborations such as within the Big Ten IPE Alliance can be beneficial in assessing current and future best practices in IPE.

Detection of Attackers in Cognitive Radio Network Using Optimized Neural Networks

Cognitive radio network (CRN) is a growing technology targeting more resourcefully exploiting the available spectrum for opportunistic network usage. By the concept of cognitive radio, the wastage of available spectrum reduced about 30% worldwide. The key operation of CRN is spectrum sensing. The sensing results about the spectrum are directly proportional to the performance of the network. In CRN, the final result about the available spectrum is decided by combing the local sensing results. The presence or participation of attackers in the network leads to false decisions and the performance of the network will be degraded. In this work, an optimized artificial neural network (ANN) based aggressor classification algorithm is proposed. The performance of ANN improved by using the Immune plasma optimization (IPO) algorithm which is inspired by human immune system response for COVID-19 disease. Results indicate that the proposed IP optimized ANN produces better results in terms of attacker detection accuracy, energy, packet delivery ratio and delay of the network. The results show that the proposed method has 32% accuracy rate improvement’s, 16% energy savings, 40% packet delivery ratio improvements and 30% overall delay reductions than the existing methods. © 2022, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Interprofessional Team-Based Learning: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Nursing and Physiotherapy Students.

Traditional discipline-specific training has limitations in facilitating inter-professional communication and collaboration. To address this issue, two local universities in Hong Kong launched an interprofessional team-based learning program to allow the undergraduate healthcare students to form teams and experience collaborative problem-solving. This study aimed to evaluate the experiences of nursing and physiotherapy undergraduates following interprofessional learning activities. Twenty-seven 3rd-year nursing and physiotherapy undergraduates were recruited through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and written feedback was solicited until data saturation was achieved. An inductive thematic analysis was used for the data, and each theme was mutually exclusive. The findings revealed the positive experiences of the students with this interprofessional learning activity. Three main themes emerged: (1) the process of interprofessional learning; (2) profession-related outcomes of interprofessional learning; and (3) patient-related outcomes of interprofessional learning. The study indicated that interprofessional team-based learning activities enhanced learning experiences of the students through interactive learning with other healthcare students. Experiences of relationships that are trustful and complementary allow students to develop confidence in knowledge transfer and in interprofessional collaboration, as well as in providing a holistic patient-centered care. These findings substantiate the importance and value of interprofessional learning in healthcare education.

A Virtual Approach to Promote Inter-Professional Learning (IPL) Between Biomedical Science and Medicine in Higher Education for the Benefit of Patient Care.

In the clinical setting, collaboration between multidisciplinary teams is core to providing effective patient care. The delivery of traditional interprofessional education is associated with a number of logistical challenges, which were heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic. This workshop was developed to bring together Biomedical Science and Medical students using an online platform. The workshop consisted of (1) defining interprofessional education, (2) introducing the role of the Pathology laboratory, (3) Professional registration with regulatory bodies and (4) an insight into Covid-19 laboratory diagnosis. The session was supported by mixed group breakout rooms and interactive polling. Thirty four percent of students completed a post-workshop online survey which included open and closed questions. Thematic analysis revealed a better understanding the role of the pathology laboratory in diagnosing disease, an increased awareness of the similarities and differences in the roles of a Biomedical Scientist and a Medic and the importance of a multi-disciplinary team in achieving effective patient care. Quantitative analysis of survey data revealed that the majority of students reported positive experiences of interprofessional education online. Approximately 90% of students agreed that the workshop enabled them to increase their understanding of their own roles within healthcare, in addition to increasing their understanding of the roles of other healthcare professionals. 74.3% of participants reported that working with students from a different programme provided an alternative perspective. Seventy nine percent of students agreed that the online format enabled interactivity and discussion of the tasks. Of the 204 students, 85% engaged with the four polls during the workshop. This online workshop enabled discussion between degree programmes, enabled interactivity and allowed the learning outcomes to be met. Universities should embrace online platforms to provide a novel, engaging and effective interprofessional educational experience.

Facilitating Interprofessional Education in an Online Environment during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Method Study.

With the COVID-19 crisis and rapid increase in cases, the need for interprofessional education (IPE) and collaborative practice is more important than ever. Instructors and health professionals are exploring innovative methods to deliver IPE programs in online education This paper presents a mixed methods study where an interprofessional education program was delivered/taught using online instruction. Using a survey/questionnaire adapted from the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and qualitative discussions, students' readiness towards online IPE program and the importance of such preparation was examined. Out of two hundred fifteen students who completed the IPE program, one hundred eighty five students from clinical and non-clinical health disciplines responded to the questionnaire (86.04% response rate). Additional qualitative content analysis was conducted on a total of seven hundred and thirty six online discussions. Data analysis across all the four subscales of RIPLS suggests that students felt positively about teamwork and collaboration, and valued opportunities for shared learning with other healthcare students. Qualitative data analysis demonstrated that IPE increases awareness of team members' roles, enhances communication and collaboration and can lead to better care for COVID-19 patients.

The COVID-19 crisis silver lining: interprofessional education to guide future innovation.

Globally, the advent and rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus has created significant disruption to health professions education and practice, and consequently interprofessional education, leading to a model of learning and practicing where much is unknown. Key questions for this ongoing evolution emerge for the global context leading to reflections on future directions for the interprofessional education field and its role in shaping future practice models. Health professions programs around the world have made a dramatic shift to virtual learning platforms in response to closures of academic institutions and restrictions imposed on learners accessing practice settings. Telemedicine, slow to become established in many countries to date, has also revolutionized practice in the current environment. Within the state of disruption and rapid change is the awareness of a silver lining that provides an opportunity for future growth. Key topics explored in this commentary include reflection on the application of existing competency frameworks, consideration of typology of team structures, reconsideration of theoretical underpinnings, revisiting of core dimensions of education, adaptation of interprofessional education activities, and the role in the future pandemic planning. As an international community of educators and researchers, the authors consider current observations relevant to interprofessional education and practice contexts and suggest a response from scholarship voices across the globe. The current pandemic offers a unique opportunity for educators, practitioners, and researchers to retain what has served interprofessional education and practice well in the past, break from what has not worked as well, and begin to imagine the new.

Online interprofessional education during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: a commentary.

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education and interprofessional education programs in particular is yet to be determined, however, it is clear that this pandemic is changing the way we live, learn, and work. Online education is becoming the new normal in academia, but it is a development that may be posing a conundrum to some. Teachers of interprofessional education are expected to employ online education, but some may lack the knowledge and expertise to create and facilitate an engaging, positive, and supportive online environment for their students. This report discusses the application of Meaningful Discourse and the Community of Inquiry principles on developing online learning communities in interprofessional education.