Evaluation of an interprofessional education program involving medical and pharmacy students: a mixed-method study

• Published in: BMC medical education 2025-01, Vol.25 (1), p.48-13, Article 48
• Main Authors: Mertens, Josephine F, Hessel, Marleen H M, Kempen, Thomas G H, Böhringer, Stefan, Norbart, Adriaan F, Walinga, Chris W, van Gelder, Teun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical Competence; Clinical medicine; Collaboration; Competence; Competence development; Cooperative Behavior; Cooperative Learning; Curricula; Curriculum; Data Analysis; Drug stores; Drug therapy; Education, Pharmacy; Educational Facilities Improvement; Educational objectives; Effect Size; Evaluation; Family physicians; Female; Group Activities; Health Occupations; Humans; Integrated Curriculum; Interdisciplinary approach in education; Internships; Interprofessional Education; Interprofessional Relations; Interviews; Learner Engagement; Learning activities; Learning Experience; Learning Modalities; Male; Medical education; Medical Evaluation; Medical students; Medicine; Methods; Outcomes of Education; Outcomes of Treatment; Perceptions; Pharmacy; Physicians; Pretesting; Pretests Posttests; Professional identity; Professions; Program Evaluation; Program Implementation; Retrospective Studies; Student Participation; Students, Medical - psychology; Students, Pharmacy; Study and teaching; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teachers; Undergraduate
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-06574-w

Effective pharmacotherapy requires strong collaboration between physicians and pharmacists, highlighting the need for interprofessional education (IPE) in university curricula. This study evaluated the impact of an IPE program on medical and pharmacy students, focusing on their perceived development of interprofessional collaborative competencies, perceived learning outcomes, and clinical collaboration perceptions. A mixed-method approach was employed to evaluate an IPE program that consisted of three mandatory activities with increased complexity and autonomy, that were integrated into the medical and pharmacy students' curricula. From September 2022 to June 2023, using a retrospective pre-post approach, students rated their competence levels after an educational activity using the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Scale (ICCAS). The participants also answered open-ended survey questions about their learning outcomes. Medical students participated in both uniprofessional education (UPE) and IPE, while pharmacy students participated exclusively in IPE. Effect sizes for competency development were estimated, and subgroup analyses were performed to examine the impact of multiple IPE activities. Semi-structured interviews provided additional qualitative insights, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Of the 309 surveys completed (response rate 64%, with 274 medical and 35 pharmacy students), all 21 ICCAS items showed statistically significant improvement in both UPE (n = 127) and IPE (n = 182) (p