Evaluation of an Interprofessional Elective Course for Health Professions Students: Teaching Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of an elective course for health professions students designed to expose, immerse, and provide opportunities for mastery of the core competencies needed for interprofessional collaborative practice (i.e. teamwork, interprofessional communication, values/ethics, and the roles and responsibilities of other health professions). METHODS Undergraduate and graduate students from five health professions (pharmacy, nursing, medicine, communication sciences and disorders, and social work) at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center who were enrolled in an elective course in the fall of 2014 were asked to complete the following three surveys at key time points in the semester: Clinical Cultural Competency Questionnaire (CCCQ) – modified pre-training version, Team Climate Inventory (TCI) – short version, and the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS). RESULTS Of 41 students, 40 consented to participate in the study and 95% of participants (n = 38) completed all surveys, in addition to a final course evaluation. Statistically significant differences in preand post-assessments of each survey and positive end-of-the-semester course evaluations indicate students’ perceived progression toward mastery of the four core competencies. CONCLUSIONS Positive results of the surveys and course evaluation demonstrate an effective and feasible model of providing didactic IP experiences that will enhance health professions students’ essential skills for interprofessional collaborative practice. Received: 03/01/2016 Accepted: 04/08/2016 © 2016 Brown et al. This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. H IP & Interprofessional Leadership Education and Interprofessional Practice EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY 2(3):eP1103 | 2 Introduction Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is widely recognized as essential for well-coordinated care that results in improved patient satisfaction and health outcomes (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2015; Poling, Labarbera, & Kiersma, 2015; WHO, 2010). Given the tradition of profession-specific training and accreditation, national organizations for the training of health professionals have developed four core competency domains with 38 specific competencies to prepare practitioners for IPCP. These domains, namely teamwork, interprofessional (IP) communication, values/ethics, and the roles and responsibilities of other health professions, provide a clear target for educators developing IP curricula (Interprofessional Education Collaborative [IPEC] Expert Panel, 2011). Interprofessional education (IPE) experiences assist health professions students in developing core competencies by learning from, with, and about each other. IP team members who are knowledgeable about the scope of practice and professional culture of other practitioners, are able to create effective teams, develop mutual respect, and negotiate power differentials as required for collaborative decision making (Baker, Egan-Lee, Martimianakis, & Reeves, 2011; Hamilton, 2011; RWJF, 2015). Ideally, opportunities for IP collaboration should be introduced early in health professions curricula (IOM, 2011; RWJF, 2015) to discourage the development of a ‘uniprofessional identity’ that can create competitive attitudes (Hamilton, 2011; Khalili, Orchard, Spence Laschinger, & Farah, 2013) and potentially lead to medical errors (IOM, 2011). The knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for IPCP can also serve health professions students in their ability to connect with patients and families in healing relationships and to promote shared decision-making with patients. Given a population that is increasing in age, diversity, and chronic conditions, the development of cultural competence across the health professions, as outlined in the domain of values/ethics, is of national concern for the reduction of health disparities (National Partnership for Action [NPA] 2011, IPEC 2011 p. 19). Cultivating an attitude of cultural humility by learning to acknowledge one’s own health beliefs and seeking increased understanding of the beliefs of others is essential to progress in cultural competence, reduce health disparities, and provide safe, highquality care (NPA, 2011, Joint Commission 2010). Although the case for IPE is robust, a review by Abu-Rish et al. (2012) reports that IPE literature does not commonly provide sufficient descriptions of implementation strategies, participants, and/or outcome measures, an analysis which supports a recent statement by the IOM (2015) that IPE lacks evidence-based methods. Also IPE experiences are not a required component of many health professions programs, including those on the campus of the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center (UCAHC). In an effort to contribute to the knowledge base and promote effective IPE curricula for health professions students, this article will describe the curriculum and educational outcomes of an elective IP course conducted in the fall of 2014 at the UCAHC.