A Framework for Web‐Based Interprofessional Education for Midwifery and Medical Students

Abstract

Scheduling interprofessional team-based activities for health sciences students who are geographically dispersed, with divergent and often competing schedules, can be challenging. The use of Web-based technologies such as 3-dimensional (3D) virtual learning environments in interprofessional education is a relatively new phenomenon, which offers promise in helping students come together in online teams when face-to-face encounters are not possible. The purpose of this article is to present the experience of a nurse-midwifery education program in a Southeastern US university in delivering Web-based interprofessional education for nurse-midwifery and third-year medical students utilizing the Virtual Community Clinic Learning Environment (VCCLE). The VCCLE is a 3D, Web-based, asynchronous, immersive clinic environment into which students enter to meet and interact with instructor-controlled virtual patient and virtual preceptor avatars and then move through a classic diagnostic sequence in arriving at a plan of care for women throughout the lifespan. By participating in the problem-based management of virtual patients within the VCCLE, students learn both clinical competencies and competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice, as described by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. This article is part of a special series of articles that address midwifery innovations in clinical practice, education, interprofessional collaboration, health policy, and global health.

Evaluation of a Web-Based Holistic Stress Reduction Pilot Program Among Nurse-Midwives

“…The findings of this holistic pilot project are congruous with published research regarding the efficacy of yoga, MBSR, and meditation and their ability to improve levels of stress and coping ability (Foureur et al, 2013; Khoury et al, 2015). It is also reflective of previously published findings regarding the effectiveness of a web-based program of education (Reis et al, 2015).…”

“…Midwives, advanced practice nurses, and medical and nursing students are effectively using web-based methods of education to receive significant aspects of their provider training (Reis, Faser, & Davis, 2015). Midwives are well acquainted with the use of web-based instruction for obtaining education pursuant to their degree programs.…”

Cursos de especialização ofertados no âmbito do Mais Médicos: análise documental na perspectiva da Educação Interprofissional

“…As we are dealing with specialization courses in which the major part of the number of hours is allocated to online lessons, the use of active methods to approach Interprofessional Education can improve the PMM doctors' learning, especially regarding the understanding of other health professionals' roles. In addition, it can overcome geographical and logistic issues inherent in the delivery of this educational approach 33,34 .…”

The Academization of Midwifery in the Context of the Amendment of the German Midwifery Law: Current Developments and Challenges

“…A science-based decision when the course of pregnancy is expected to be physiological and when it is expected to be pathological can and must be made by practitioners of both professions working together and using comparable evidence-based knowledge. This already needs to be taken into account as part of interprofessional skills training during academic training and amounts to a paradigm shift 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 .…”

“…Beiden Berufsgruppen muss eingeräumt werden, in auf Schwangerschaft und Geburt ausgerichteten Schwerpunkten der anderen Disziplin ausgebildet zu werden. Die wissenschaftsbasierte Entscheidung, wann ein physiologischer und wann ein pathologischer Verlauf zu erwarten ist, kann und sollte auf vergleichbarer Wissensgrundlage evidenzbasiert von beiden Akteuren im Zusammenwirken getroffen werden können, was schon bei der akademischen Ausbildung im Rahmen von interprofessionellen Skilltrainings Berücksichtigung erfahren sollte und einen Paradigmenwechsel bedeutet 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 .…”