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Document Type (Journals)

Original Research

Abstract

Interprofessional collaboration improves health outcomes through enhanced efficiency and communication among team members. Professional educational standards call for interprofessional education (IPE) to develop the collaborative competencies necessary for transition from didactic learning to clinical practice. Variability exists regarding methods of IPE implementation, so efficacy of curricula needs to be described in a manner which allows for replication and utilization of these methods with occupational therapy students. A pre/post design with convenience sampling of students from occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant programs was completed to determine the effectiveness of an IPE module and to discover if differences in IPE competency were observed among students from each discipline. Interprofessional competencies were assessed pre/post module participation with the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide, a faculty developed survey, and the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Scale. The nine-week hybrid format module used TeamSTEPPS® concepts as central constructs for module design. Critical reasoning was addressed through peer-led instruction of foundational interprofessional concepts. Experiential learning was emphasized through case examples and video simulated care conference which assisted in linking students’ prior experiences with new concepts. Data were gathered for analysis from the university’s online learning platform. Following module completion, students reported an increased understanding of effective teams. Interprofessional competency outcomes indicated improved collaborative competencies among all student groups, with mild variation between professional disciplines as assessed at posttest. Moving beyond focusing on obstacles of collaborative learning, and instead focusing on innovative methods for implementation of interprofessional education, helped to prepare students to incorporate interprofessional skills in clinical practice as assessed through the faculty developed survey.

Biography

Dr. Lucas Molitor, OTD, MS, OTR/L, BCG earned her doctorate in occupational therapy from the University of South Dakota. She has clinical practice experience in adult physical rehabilitation and gerontology. She is Board Certified in Gerontology through the American Occupational Therapy Association. She is Assistant Professor and Capstone Director, teaching adult physical rehabilitation, home modification, and health promotion.

Dr. Naber, OTD, OTR/L, CLT-LANA is Assistant Professor teaching in the areas of upper extremity rehabilitation, environmental implications on occupational performance, and professional behaviors. In addition she is Level I Fieldwork Coordinator.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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