A qualitative study to explore student learning and development of interprofessional collaboration during an online interprofessional education intervention.

Interprofessional education (IPE) during undergraduate education and training has been found to improve collaboration between health care students. This supports interprofessional working in clinical practice to enhance patient safety and care delivery.Undergraduate students from pharmacy and medical programmes worked online in pairs to review notes of hospital patients due to be discharged. Students were tasked to complete a discharge letter and undertake an online consultation with a simulated patient prior to discharge. Online interactions were recorded and assessed using a validated tool to measure interprofessional professionalism. Students undertook this intervention in different pairings with different patient cases for three iterations after receiving feedback and undertaking a reflective exercise.The aim was to investigate the student learning and development that could be used to inform intervention optimisation and scale-up.Qualitative data were collected from different sources. Method triangulation was employed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the student learning and development. Data was collected from written feedback provided by the assessment team, student reflections on their performance, and from semi-structured interviews conducted with the student pairs and one to one with the assessment team. Content and thematic analysis was used to analyse these data and the Kirkpatrick/Barr evaluation model provided a framework to organise the themes.Eighteen students (nine from each professional programme) completed the study and a total of 27 IPE sessions were conducted. The assessment team completed 54 assessment tools and 31 student reflections were received (from a maximum of 36). Students were interviewed in their interprofessional pairs to yield nine interview transcripts and one interview was conducted with the assessment team.Students reported and were observed to improve in interprofessional collaboration over the three iterations following feedback and rehearsal opportunities. Longitudinal observation and assessment of student interprofessional working in changing teams provided the opportunity to capture the influence of interdependence on student performance and assessment of competence.

A pilot study evaluating the feasibility of assessing undergraduate pharmacy and medical students interprofessional collaboration during an online interprofessional education intervention about hospital discharge.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) has been identified as a strategy towards improving competence at interprofessional working and collaboration within teams. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) provide a framework for translating competencies into elements of clinical practice, some of which in healthcare are inherently interprofessional. However, it is challenging to reconcile that entrustment decisions about student competence in an interprofessional activity are made about an individual without considering the dynamics and tensions between interprofessional team members and the task itself. This can influence students' development and demonstration of competence at interprofessional collaboration. METHODS: In this study, undergraduate medical and pharmacy students worked in pairs online (Zoom) to undertake the hospital discharge process (a professional activity reliant on interprofessional collaboration) for a simulated patient, producing a hospital discharge letter and completing a consultation with the simulated patient. The online sessions were recorded and interprofessional behaviours were assessed using a validated scale completed by an interprofessional assessment team. Students undertook this IPE intervention three times after receiving feedback and a period of reflection each time. RESULTS: Eighteen students participated across the entire intervention and 27 one-hour online IPE sessions were completed and recorded. Students demonstrated statistically significant improvements in interprofessional behaviours across the three iterations (p < 0.05 for all the sessions). The discharge letter students produced also improved over the three sessions (p = 0.01). Students found the educational sessions useful and relevant. CONCLUSION: This online IPE intervention provided the students with an authentic opportunity to work collaboratively. At the end of each iteration, students received feedback about their work as a team and about the discharge letter, helping students to reflect and purposefully develop their performance. The IPE intervention with this assessment strategy is feasible and allows student development to be captured but has proved to be time and resource intensive.

Assessment tools in pre-licensure interprofessional education: A systematic review, quality appraisal and narrative synthesis.

OBJECTIVES: Interprofessional education (IPE) aims to provide students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the team working behaviours and skills that will lead to positive patient outcomes. This systematic review aims to identify and critically appraise the assessment tools used after a pre-licensure IPE intervention and provide guidance on which tool to use according to the focus of the intervention. METHODS: In July 2019, the following electronic databases were searched: MEDLINE, ERIC, CINHAL, EMBASE and NEXUS website. All studies involving pre-licensure health care students exposed to an IPE intervention and undertook an assessment measuring student knowledge, skills, behaviour, or change in organisational practice or a benefit to patients were included. Studies that used tools relying on self-assessment only were excluded. Constructive alignment of the IPE intervention with the assessment was evaluated and quality assessment of the studies and critical appraisal of the validity evidence for the tools was undertaken. RESULTS: From 9502 returned studies, 39 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analysed. These were rated as good in terms of methodological quality. Acquisition of knowledge was the most commonly assessed outcome, mainly with pre/post knowledge tests, followed by behaviour change, which was measured by a range of validated tools. Patient benefit was defined as change in clinical effectiveness, patient safety or patient satisfaction. Constructive alignment of the IPE aim with the assessment was limited due to issues with study reporting. Tools measuring behaviour change demonstrate mixed adherence to quality standards around reliability, validity and scales and scoring. CONCLUSIONS: Various methods have been used to identify change following IPE; however, choosing the most appropriate tool to support and align with the aim of the IPE intervention is crucial. We have critically appraised the available tools and offered an indication of their quality. This has informed the production of a decision aid to support the selection of the appropriate IPE assessment tool depending on the purpose of the intervention. More studies using these tools in rigorous study designs are required to substantiate the evidence base.