Building the Interprofessional Education Case Through Information Evidence and Outcomes
o Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) is critical to preparing health professions (IP) students to be effective members of the healthcare workforce. Missouri AHEC (MAHEC) offers AHEC-affiliated HP students several interprofessional (IP) programs, utilizing a combination of didactics, experiential training and clinical exposure in rural and underserved settings. One IP program has the HP students participate in IPE training experience in a clinical training site. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of this program on IPE outcomes.
o Design or methodology: Pre-experimental design used the Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Scale (ICCAS), a retrospective pre/post survey to assess the change in IP collaboration-related competencies in HP students before and after their IPE training (2019-2022) and determine IPE outcomes (Nf31).
o Results: Students were placed in a variety of different clinical sites, including ambulatory (51.6%), FQHC (6.5%) and Hospital (41.9%). All sites were in primary care HPSAs. There were significant differences in pre-post measures of IPE before (Mean=73.9±13.1) and after (Mean=90.3±9.5) X2(1)=22.1, p<.001. The largest differences were found in promoting effective communication (X2(1)=17.45, p<.001), developing effective care plans (X2(1)=21.19, p<.001) and negotiating responsibilities with overlapping scopes of practice (X2(1)=20.23, p<.001) among IP team members.
o Conclusion: MAHEC IPE programs improve interprofessional skills among HP students and trainees, especially communication, planning and negotiation skills. However, given the small sample size, results should be interpreted with caution. Future studies should evaluate the use of MAHEC IPE programs with larger, more diverse samples across the State.
o Reflections/lessons learned/implications: Having a healthcare provider who understands the importance of IPE be a mentor to HP students is important. A combination of didactic, experiential training and clinical exposure provides rich experience to HP students and enhances their IPE training. Students experienced firsthand the importance of collaboration with students from other health professions. One lesson most students learned is the value of different perspectives (attributed to the different education and experiences of participating HP students) and its positive impact on the health outcomes of the patient. It is MAHEC’s plan to expand this program to other AHEC regions in Missouri as appropriate.
o Description of how the poster fulfills the core criteria above, if applicable: N/A
