Perspectives of pharmacy students in Qatar toward interprofessional education and collaborative practice: a mixed methods study

Abstract

In an IPE environment, students are expected to have better understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and contribution of other health care professions to enhance interprofessional working and collaboration with an end result of improving patient-centred and team-based care. Although many studies have investigated students' attitudes, very few employ a mixed methods design and hardly are from Middle Eastern countries. A two-staged sequential explanatory mixed method design was used to comprehensively capture the perspectives of pharmacy students toward IPE and collaborative practice. A quantitative survey was conducted as the first stage of the study, followed by an in-depth discussion of these perspectives through a qualitative phase by conducting two focus groups. For the quantitative surveys, the overall response rate was 102/132 (77%) for pharmacy students in Qatar. This was followed by two focus groups with a total of 27 participants from senior and junior students. In exploring the qualitative data, three main themes were identified in relation to the pharmacy students' perspectives. These were on the pharmacy students' perception on the enablers (professional related benefits, patient-related benefits and current positive influences), barriers (previous IPE experiences, educational related issues and current working practices and processes), and recommendations to implementing IPE and collaborative practice (future IPE and pharmacy profession). Overall, the results demonstrate a strong readiness and positive perception by pharmacy students toward IPE and collaborative practice. This study has highlighted different dimensions in pharmacy students' perceptions. It also provided a useful insight into the readiness of pharmacy students in a Middle Eastern university. Students are seeking more IPE experiences formally incorporated into their curriculum and hence educators should capitalise on these positive and enthusiastic attitudes to identify the most effective means for delivering IPE and inform curricula planning. Collaborative practice-ready graduates will produce better-educated professionals delivering higher quality care.

Pharmacy academics’ perspectives toward interprofessional Education prior to its implementation in Qatar: a qualitative study

“…One of the key challenges highlighted in this study is the lack of collaborative practice in Qatar and the existence of a hierarchical system. This is similar to findings from others studies which focussed on pharmacy students and practising pharmacist perspectives toward IPE and collaborative practice in Qatar [45, 46]. Although IPE was perceived as an important component in overcoming this, it was also felt that these hierarchal differences could impede any initiatives, including IPE because of the more traditional attitudes and culture.…”

“…An interesting finding in this study relates to the discussion around mixed gender education in IPE activities. Gender segregation in higher education is the norm in most public universities in the Gulf region [45, 52]. At Qatar University, undergraduate education is gender segregated except for the College of Medicine.…”

“…Hence, this research focused on pharmacy academics’ perspectives towards IPE prior to its implementation in Qatar. This research was part of a larger mixed method study investigating pharmacy perspectives of interprofessional education and collaborative practice in Qatar & the Middle East [23, 24]. The first stage of this study was completed through a quantitative survey to explore the attitudes and views towards IPE and collaborative practice of pharmacy academics in the Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern countries.…”

Perspectives of future pharmacists on the potential for development and implementation of pharmacist prescribing in Qatar

“…Further, it has been suggested that adopting a clearly defined scope of practice and recognizing the boundaries and limitations of the pharmacy profession could avert the issue of overlapping duties with physicians and other HCPs [17]. Another study that explored the perspectives of pharmacy students in Qatar on interprofessional education and collaborative practice, reported that pharmacy students were least confident about their professional identity [73]. This was attributed to lack of role models, existence of power and hierarchy between healthcare team members, and resistance to the evolving role of the pharmacists, especially by physicians [73].…”

“…Another study that explored the perspectives of pharmacy students in Qatar on interprofessional education and collaborative practice, reported that pharmacy students were least confident about their professional identity [73]. This was attributed to lack of role models, existence of power and hierarchy between healthcare team members, and resistance to the evolving role of the pharmacists, especially by physicians [73].…”