Interprofessional versus uniprofessional dyad learning for medical students in a clinical setting

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to explore and compare medical students' perceived learning outcomes when treating patients under supervision in two different learning settings: a uniprofessional or an interprofessional dyad. Methods: The design of the study is a qualitative interview study. Data were collected from October 2016 to June 2017 via semi-structured group interviews performed at the end of the clinical placement in an orthopaedic outpatient clinic for medical students in the last semester of the curriculum. In the placement, the students worked by turns in either a uniprofessional dyad with two medical students or an interprofessional dyad with a nursing student. The data from the interviews were analysed using Systematic Text Analysis. Results: Overall, 21 students were interviewed. The students appreciated the authenticity of dealing with real patient problems. Both dyads provided the possibility of working as a professional, but the interprofessional dyad had a more authentic setting. In both dyads, the students' interdependence and mutual support promoted the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Working in the interprofessional dyad facilitated relationships between the professions, and the medical students became aware of some of their own profession's strengths and weaknesses. The interprofessional collaboration contributed to different perspectives on the patients' course of treatment and led to a more holistic understanding of the treatment. Conclusions: Interprofessional dyads have the potential to improve learning outcomes in the clinical training of medical students. Further studies are needed to explore the benefits across medical specialities and settings.

Dyad pedagogy in practical anatomy: A description of the implementation and student perceptions of an adaptive approach to cadaveric teaching

“…More recent studies have expanded upon this design by formulating interprofessional learning dyads, that is medical student–nursing student pairs. Preliminary research in the area has shown that working in interprofessional dyads helps medical students gain an awareness of their profession's strengths and weaknesses and can lead them to a more holistic understandings of treatment (Hansen et al, 2020 ).…”

Undergraduate Interprofessional Education in the European Higher Education Area: A Systematic Review

“…Of the 32 papers, seven explicitly mentioned the theoretical background on which the intervention was based. These included peer-assisted learning [30,36,59], Jeffries simulation theory [55], Bandura self-efficacy theory [46], Knowles's principles for Adult Learning as guidelines [53], goal theory perspective [59], model of inter-professionality, Beck's cognitive model, and social capital theory [56]. The remaining papers did not explicitly mention the theoretical background of the IPE program [29,[31][32][33][34][35][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][47][48][49][50][51][52]54,57,58,60].…”

“…Several studies (n = 16) included students from two professions only [29,31,32,37,40,42,43,45,48,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. In addition to medical students, twenty-three studies included nursing, six papers included physiotherapy, four papers included pharmacology, and only two papers included psychology students (Table 1).…”

Is two a crowd? A qualitative analysis of dyad learning in an OBGYN clinical clerkship

“…We expect dyad learning and other group learning formats to be a part of tomorrow’s medical education system in both uni‐ and interprofessional formats due to growing student cohorts and an increasing team approach to patient care 16,26,27,49,56 . This provides new pedagogical challenges, but also potential for innovation of medical education in times of increasing productivity demands and medical personnel shortages.…”

“…Several experimental studies have provided substantial evidence to support the effectiveness of dyad learning of clinical skills in the controlled simulated setting 1‐8 . Yet, despite these promising results, we identified few attempts in the published literature to examine the role of dyad learning as a method for training medical students in clinical clerkships 14‐16 . This may have to do with the fact that medical students' learning in the clinical setting depends on a complex interplay between doctors, nurses and patients.…”