A short elective supports the attitudes of medicine and pharmacy students towards interprofessional learning: a pre-post design.

Abstract

Introduction: With increasing medical and pharmaceutical challenges, the importance of interprofessional working and education (IPE) is growing. The expected benefits of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) of physicians and pharmaceutical staff and the existing gap in their practical experience support this burgeoning importance of IPE. To date, evidence on how IPE can contribute to students' attitudes on IPC is scarce.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate whether an interprofessional educational intervention could lead to an improved attitude towards interprofessional collaboration.

Method: 25 medical students and 37 pharmacy students participated in a non-controlled exploratory before-after study. To assess attitudes towards IPE, students filled out the SPICE-2D questionnaire, which consists of three domains and ten items. Data was analyzed descriptively and using paired t-tests to test mean differences between the two measurements on domain and item level.

Result: In total, 31 participants completed both pre- and post-surveys. We found significant improvements across all three domains of the SPICE-2D questionnaire. On item level we found significant improvements in seven out of ten items. No significant group differences were found (e.g. gender or study course).

Conclusion: Results show that the elective with a focus on IPE had a positive impact on the attitudes of medical and pharmacy students about interprofessionalism and collaboration. Findings suggest and confirm that standardized and structured IPE can positively improve attitudes. Further studies are recommended to validate these findings, especially with bigger sample sizes and long-term effects.