Interprofessional initiatives between the human health professions and veterinary medical students: a scoping review

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a scoping review designed to identify the extent, nature and range of literature on interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives between the human health professions and veterinary medical students, which is particularly important to advance One Health education and research. Nine published articles were identified. The websites of six universities were searched in order to collect further information. Interventions vary widely with regards to their structure and delivery, their objectives, the participants involved, and outcome measures. Healthcare professional programmes focus upon interprofessional collaborative practice in the human healthcare setting. By contrast, postgraduate programmes focus upon topics under the One Health paradigm but make little mention of interprofessional collaboration. Evidence of the impact of interventions on team processes at the human, animal, and environmental interface is extremely limited. In order to enhance our understanding of what constitutes effective IPE between veterinary medical students and the human health professions, guide intervention development, and the development of outcome measures, there is a need to further explore, define, differentiate and validate some of the terms and concepts used to describe interprofessional interventions.

Incorporating Inter-Professional Education into a Veterinary Medical Curriculum

“…Powerful experiential learning can occur for both the veterinary students and other health profession students involved. A recent scoping review article 6 suggested that there is some type of IPE program in place at many veterinary colleges but that these programs are very diverse in their structure, delivery, objectives, and outcomes across institutions. IPE continues to expand in US and Canadian health professions programs.…”

The case of veterinary interprofessional practice: From one health to a world of its own

“…Research has included, for example: attitudes towards collaborative learning, where veterinary students taught medical students basic surgical skills 9 ; attitudes towards learning together on a small group activity regarding risk factors of a zoonotic disease 10 ; the importance of veterinarians in the context of interprofessional problem solving in disease prevention 11 ; and a scoping review of existing IPE one health initiatives, citing nine articles and six university websites. 12 The results of these studies are largely positive, suggesting changing attitudes and awareness of the importance of veterinarians and physicians working together. However, they tend to recommend further research of this substantial topic, particularly regarding validation of concepts and development of outcomes measures to evaluate the effectiveness of IPE.…”

“…However, they tend to recommend further research of this substantial topic, particularly regarding validation of concepts and development of outcomes measures to evaluate the effectiveness of IPE. 12 This paper acknowledges the importance of One Health style IPE research 13 and development, with the inclusion of veterinary professions as central members of the team.…”

Applying the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) to medical, veterinary and dual degree Master of Public Health (MPH) students at a private medical institution

“…Addressing global disease threats such as Ebola and COVID-19, requires a shift in the educational framework of healthrelated disciplines, but in particular veterinarians and physicians. IPE as a pedagogical tool for including the principles of collaborative practice as embodied by the OH concept, provides a framework for educating future graduates of each discipline for cooperative practice [4]. The success of IPE promoting an OH approach to practice requires students to be ready to engage in interprofessional learning.…”