Interprofessional Education: Involving Clerkship Specific Health Professionals in Onboarding Medical Students to Enhance Collaborative Care

Background
Research has consistently shown that interprofessional education (IPE) improves patient-centered care, hence the way it is taught to students is pivotal. Previous studies evaluating an interprofessional teaching approach have proven to be effective in increasing interest in the topic. However, most of these studies involved only physicians and physical therapists. To our knowledge, no studies have examined other health professions teaching medical students. Therefore, a group of learners and staff set out to allow health professionals to teach medical students.

Methods
A cross-sectional survey approach was utilized. A ten item questionnaire was offered to health professionals at Michigan Medicine. The survey was emailed in January 2022 to health professionals who had previously volunteered for IPE programming (n = 194). Only completed surveys were considered (n = 42). Interviews were subsequently held over Zoom (n = 19). Our study was deemed IRB-exempt (IRB HUM00126168).

Results
Of the completed surveys, the highest number of responses came from nursing. Of the completed interviews, the highest number came from social workers, dieticians, and nurses. For both, the greatest number of participants were from the Emergency Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

There were several salient themes that emerged throughout the interviews. Communication with other health professionals was mentioned by almost all of the participants. Many provided tips for how to most effectively work with their profession. Most notably, all of the professionals mentioned their enthusiasm for working with medical students.

Conclusion
Other health professionals are eager to help with medical student education. They are in an optimum position to teach as they are experts within their fields. These videos will not only help prepare medical students better for their clinical rotations, but will also help strengthen the understanding they have of other health professions and ultimately improve the interprofessional interactions they will have.

Reflections
We will be launching the completed videos to our second-year medical students in the fall in the transition period before they enter their core clerkships. We hope to evaluate their utilization and success with those students. We will continue to monitor and update the videos as needed. We hope that other institutions will consider implementing similar programs to further improve interprofessional education and subsequent patient care outcomes.

Fulfills Criteria
This poster describes a new curriculum project within IPE, involving several different health professionals, that was led by students and can be reviewed by other institutions for consideration of implementation.