Impact of team composition on student perceptions of interprofessional teamwork: A 6-year cohort study

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) provides students with opportunities to learn about the roles and responsibilities of other professions and develop communication and teamwork skills. As different health professions have recognised the importance of IPE, the number of disciplines participating in IPE events is increasing. Consequently, it is important to examine the effect group structure has on the learning environment and student knowledge acquisition during IPE events. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of group composition on student perceptions of interprofessional teamwork and collaboration when participating in a case-based IPE forum. To examine this construct, six cohorts of students were divided into two groups: Group-one (2010-2012) included students from five professions. Group-two (2013-2015) included students from 10 professions. The only other change for group-two was broadening the case scenarios to ensure a role for each profession. At the conclusion of the case-based IPE forums, both groups demonstrated a statistically significant increase in 'readiness for interprofessional learning' and 'interdisciplinary education perceptions'. However, participants in group-one (2010-2012) demonstrated a greater change in scores when compared to group-two (2013-2015). It was concluded a case-based IPE forum with students from numerous health professions participating in a discussion about broad case scenarios was moderately effective at introducing students to other health professions and increasing their knowledge of others' identities. However, a smaller grouping of professions with targeted cases was more effective at influencing student perceptions of the need for teamwork. When planning an IPE event, faculty should focus on intentional groupings of professions to reflect the social context of healthcare teams so all students can fully participate and experience shared learning.

Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Cytotechnology Graduate and Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Toward Teamwork Before and After Participation in an Interprofessional Education Experience

“…These findings parallel results from relatively short (<6 hours) interactive interprofessional educational seminar experiences, which demonstrated positive changes in attitudes towards interprofessional learning and collaboration among undergraduate and graduate health professions students (Dahlgren et al, 2018;Gould et al, 2017;Mishoe et al, 2018;Wellmon et al, 2012). Previous research has demonstrated improvement in overall attitudes towards interprofessional education and collaborative practice is possible after IPE focused coursework and our findings highlight similar results with a shorter intervention (Hood et al, 2014;Lairamore et al, 2018;Ruebling et al, 2014). A focus on roles and responsibilities of the professions within the interprofessional team for shorter interprofessional education experiences can provide important avenues for improving understanding and sharing of expertise amongst health professions students (Gould et al, 2017).…”

Interprofessional student meetings in municipal health service - Mutual learning towards a Community of Practice in patient care

“…In policy documents, IPE research, guidelines, reports and textbooks, the concept of teamwork is linked to interprofessional collaboration in health care (CAIPE, 2017;Fox et al, 2018;Frenk et al, 2010;IPEC, 2011;Lairamore et al, 2018;NM of Health and Care Services, 2015;NM of Education, 2012;Reeves, Lewin, Espin & Zwarenstein, 2010b, Reeves et al, 2017WHO, 2010). A team is understood as a group of people pursuing a common goal together (CAIPE, 2017) and teamwork as when the people in the group relate themselves to the group, clarify roles, tasks and goals, create interdependence, integrate with each other and take on responsibility for the performance of the group (Reeves et al, 2010b).…”

Ten-year mixed-method evaluation of prelicensure health professional student self-reported learning in an interfaculty pain curriculum

“…20 Study results support IASP recommendations for small group work 22 and align with research demonstrating improved social interaction, learning scores, and student satisfaction in smaller groups. 1 , 26 It is plausible that psychological safety conferred by small groups (ie, students feel comfortable asking questions) may contribute to knowledge exchange. 46 Regardless of the session size and delivery mode, however, students in this study indicated that opportunities for interaction enhanced their engagement in learning.…”