Psychiatric training during covid-19 pandemic benefits from integrated practice in interprofessional teams and ecological momentary e-assessment.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: During the current covid-19 pandemic, healthcare students had to stop their face-to-face attendance at medical colleges and universities. This condition has resulted in a change in how learning and assessment of psychiatric and interprofessional practice occur. The pandemic has also increased clinical mentors' need to follow their mentees' educational progress via virtual technology, including smartphone-based educational apps. The aim of the study is to propose a model in psychiatric and medical interprofessional practice e-assessment. METHODS: In this study, 228 undergraduate healthcare students underwent a training period in interprofessional practice across specialties being assessed by Ecological Momentary e-Assessment (EMeA), and consisting of ongoing or before/after Interprofessional Education (IPE) learning evaluations with the assistance of an IPE-app linked to online surveys. The Goodness of Fit Test Chi-square and t-test statistics analyzed the data. RESULTS: Surveys during, at entry and exit points in IPE captured increased percentages of learners, specifically, reporting high patient satisfaction with interprofessional teams (c2=22.54; p<.01), learners experiencing very good quality of care when delivered by interprofessional teams (c2=30.02; p<.01) assessed by distance technology, and learners selecting less frequently peers from the same clinical background when support was needed in patient care (c2=19.84; p<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Contextual assessment (in the real-time and real-world scenario) of IPE learning moments via EMeA shows its value and applicability during the current covid-19 pandemic when the assessment of learning cannot occur face-to-face between learners and teachers. All healthcare students, including those on psychiatric rotations, could log in their progress, self-reflective assessments, and responses to coordinated care in interprofessional teams, without needing direct contact with their clinical tutors, and while treating patients with mental and physical illnesses, also including covid-19 positive patients.