Does "Interprofessional Education" in the Uni-Professional Setting Improve Students Understanding of Patient-Centred Care?

In order to contribute to effective teamwork, Interprofessional Education (IPE) is important for healthcare students. However, curriculum management between each department is a barrier in organizing IPE. The aim of this study is to explore how students in a uni-professional setting can improve their appreciation of teamwork and understanding about interprofessional learning using a scenario, including multiprofessional perceptions, which were collaboratively written by medical, pharmacy, and nursing faculty. "IPE" at the uniprofessional setting was performed on 5th grade 91 pharmacy students at Kinjo Gakuin University. They summarized the case, and had group discussions on these themes: role of pharmacist in the community, communication with the patient, communication with other health professionals, and the role in the patient's end of life. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and Nagoya Teamwork Scale (NTwS) were administered pre and post intervention. The patient's summary and the products of the group discussion were analyzed qualitatively. Scores of RIPLS increased significantly from 69.8 (SD 6.1) to 72.0 (SD 5.7) (p < 0.01), while NTwS showed no significant difference from 113.6 (SD 9.1) to 115.1 (SD 8.7). In qualitative analysis, many groups extracted patient centered information, such as patient's painful experience of husband's death, residential problems, and patient's worries about her own illness. In contrast, only a few groups explored the role of nurse or pharmacist. The result implies that pharmacy students gained a readiness for interprofessional learning and a deeper understanding of patient-centred care. For learning multi-professional perceptions, this program showed limited effects compared with conventional IPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]