Perceptions of Teamwork and Interprofessional Education in Undergraduate Pharmacy Students
Keywords:
interprofessional education, teamwork, pharmacy students, attitudes, females, genderAbstract
Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) is a mandatory component of accredited pharmacy programs in North America, yet little is known about pharmacy students’ perceptions.
Objective: To survey pharmacy students and characterise their attitudes and interest toward IPE, and identify variables associated with positive perceptions of teamwork.
Methods: 88.9% of pharmacy students (n=311) in one Canadian university completed a survey consisting of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and additional questions assessing student’s skills, knowledge, and interest in collaboration in September 2015. Descriptive and univariate statistics were calculated between demographic variables and survey scores to identify associations.
Results: Reported interest in future interprofessional collaborative training was 94.2%. Mean rank total RIPLS scores were significantly higher in females (p=0.000) and inversely correlated to year of pharmacy, declining by an average of 23 RIPLS points with each year (p=0.000).
Conclusion: Pharmacy students are interested in IPE, but their interest but declines with year of study.
References
Accreditation Standards. (2015). Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) (online). Available at: https://www.acpe-accredit.org/standards/default. asp. Accessed 17th September, 2015.
Accreditation Standards. (2014). Accreditation Standards for the First Professional Degree in Pharmacy Programs 2014, The Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP) (online). Available at: http:// www.ccapp-accredit.ca/site/pdfs/university/ CCAPP_accred_standards_ degree_2014.pdf. Accessed 29th September, 2015.
Baerg, K., Lake, D. & Paslawski, T. (2012). Survey of interprofessional collaboration learning needs and training interest in health professionals, teachers, and students: an exploratory study. Journal Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education, 2(2), 187-204.
Berglund, H., Hasson, H., Kjellgren, K. & Wilhelmson, K. (2015). Effects of a continuum of care intervention on frail older persons' life satisfaction: a randomized controlled study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24, 1079-90.
Bland J. & Altman D. (1997). Statistics notes: Cronbach's alpha. British Medical Journal, 314, 275.
Buring, S.M., Bhushan, A., Broeseker, A., Conway, S., Duncan-Hewitt, W., Hansen, L. & Westberg, S. (2009). Interprofessional education: definitions, student competencies, and guidelines for implementation. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 73, 59.
CAIPE [Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education] (2015). Defining IPE (online). Available at: http://caipe.org.uk/resources/defining-ipe/. Accessed 20th September, 2015.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research. (2010). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, December 2010 (online). Available at: http://www.ethics.gc.ca/pdf/eng/ tcps2/TCPS_2_FINAL_Web.pdf. Accessed 1st September, 2015.
CIHC [Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaboration]. (2010). A National Interprofessional Health Competency Framework (online). Available at: http://www.cihc.ca/ files/CIHC_Interprofessional competencies_Feb1210.pdf. Accessed 29th September, 2015.
CIHI [Canadian Institute for Health Information]. (2001). Health Human Resources. Pharmacists in Canada (online). Available at: https://www.cihi.ca/en/ pharm2011_infosheet_en.pdf. Accessed 10th November, 2015.
Curran, V., Sharpe, D., Forristall, J. & Flynn, K. (2008). Attitudes of health sciences students towards interprofessional teamwork and education. Learning in Health and Social Care, 7(3), 146-156.
Government of Canada. (2015). Statistics Canada. Employment by industry and sex (online). Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/ cst01/labor10b-eng.htm. Accessed 10th November, 2015.
Haggerty, J.L., Reid, R.J., Freeman, G.K., Starfield, B.H., Adair, C.E. & McKendry, R. (2003). Continuity of care: a multidisciplinary review. British Medical Journal, 327(7425),1219–1221.
Hansson, A., Foldevi, M. & Mattsson, B. (2010). Medical students’ attitudes toward collaboration between doctors and nurses - a comparison between two Swedish universities. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 24(3), 242-250.
Kucukarslan, S.N., Peters, M., Mlynarek, M. & Nafziger, D.A. (2003). Pharmacists on rounding teams reduce preventable adverse drug events in hospital general medicine units. Archives of Internal Medicine, 163, 2014-8.
Lauffs, M., Pnzer, S., Saboonchi, F., Lonka, K., Hylin, U. & Mattiasson, A. (2008). Cross-cultural adaptation of the Swedish version of Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Medical Education, 42(4), 405-411.
Leape, L.L., Cullen, D.J., Clapp, M.D., Burdick, E., Demonaco, H.J., Erickson, J.I. & Bates, D.W. (1999). Pharmacist participation on physician rounds and adverse drug events in the intensive care unit. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282, 267-70.
McFadyen, A., Webster, V., Strachan, K., Figgins, E., Brown, H. & Mckenchnie, J. (2005). The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Sale: a possible more stable sub-scale model for the original version. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 19(5), 595-603.
Parsell, G. & Bligh, J. (1999). The development of a questionnaire to assess the readiness of health care students for interprofessional learning (RIPLS). Medical Education, 33(2), 95-100.
Pollard, K., Miers, M. & Gilchrist, M. (2004). Collaborative learning for collaborative working? Initial findings from a longitudinal study of health and social care students. Health & Social Care Community, 12(4), 346-358.
Pollard, K. & Miers, M. (2008). From students to professionals: Results of a longitudinal study of attitudes to pre-qualifying collaborative learning and working in health and social care in the United Kingdom. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 22, 399-416.
Reid, B., Bruce, D., Allstaff, K. & McLernon, D. (2006). Validating the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale in the postgraduate context: are health care professionals ready for IPL? Medical Education, 40(5), 415-422.
Reynolds, F. (2003). Initial experiences of interprofessional problem-based learning: a comparison of male and female students’ views. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 17(1), 35-44.
RIPLS [Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale]. (2015). National Centre for Interprofessional Practice and Education (online). Available at https://nexusipe.org/ informing/resource-center/ripls-readiness-interprof essional-learning-scale. Accessed 29th November, 2015.
Tavakol, M. & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55.
Tunstall-Pedoe, S., Rink, E. & Hilton, S. (2003). Student attitudes to undergraduate interprofessional education. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 17(3), 161-172.
Wilhelmsson, M., Ponzer, S., Dahlgren, L., Timpka, T. & Faresjo, T. (2011). Are female students in general and nursing students more ready for teamwork and interprofessional collaboration in healthcare? BMC Medical Education, 11, 15-25.
Williams, B. & Webb, V. (2015). A national study of paramedic and nursing students' readiness for interprofessional learning (IPL): Results from nine universities. Nurse Education Today, 35(9), e31-7.
Appendices
Van Winkle, L., Bjork, B., Chandar, N., Cornell, S., , Fjortoft, N., Green, J.M., La Salle, S., Lynch, S.M., Viselli, S.M. & Burdicka, P. (2012). Interprofessional workshop to improve mutual understanding between pharmacy and medical students. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 76(8), 150.
