Validation of an Instrument to Measure Pharmacy and Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration

Abstract

Objectives. To assess the validity and reliability of an instrument to measure pharmacy students' attitudes toward physician-pharmacist collaboration, and compare those attitudes to the attitudes of medical students. Methods. One hundred sixty-six first-year pharmacy students and 77 first-year medical students at Midwestern University completed the Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration.Results. Findings confirmed the validity and reliability of the Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration in pharmacy students, as observed previously for medical students. Pharmacy students' mean score was significantly higher (56.6 6 7.2) than that of medical students (52.0 6 6.1). Maximum likelihood factoring confirmed the 3-factor solution of responsibility and accountability, shared authority, and interdisciplinary education for pharmacy students. Conclusions. The Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration can be used for the assessment of interdisciplinary educational programs, for patient outcome assessment of interprofessional collaboration, and for group comparisons. Findings that pharmacy students expressed more positive attitudes toward collaboration than medical students have implications for interdisciplinary education.Keywords: interprofessional collaboration, interprofessional education, health professions students, reliability, validity, psychometrics, attitudes INTRODUCTIONInterprofessional collaboration in patient care among US health care professionals began in World War II when medical, surgical, and nursing teams worked together to treat injured soldiers. 1 Health care providers now consider collaboration and teamwork to be an important component of professionalism 2 leading to greater patient safety 1 and better patient outcomes. 3-9 Physician-pharmacist collaboration results in improved patient self-care skills, fewer drug interactions 10,11 and medication errors, 12 and more cost-effective use of medication, 13 all of which lead to more effective drug therapy and better patient outcomes.Interdisciplinary education in medical and pharmacy colleges and schools is designed to enhance the skills that physicians and pharmacists will need to function in interprofessional health care teams. 14 These educational efforts are to ensure that all health care practitioners effectively use their specialized training and expertise to optimize patient care and improve therapeutic outcomes. For example, medical and pharmacy students at Midwestern University are taught together in several basic science and communications courses and in an introductory course entitled Health Care Issues. A collaborative relationship between pharmacists and physicians is needed more than ever because of the rapid advancements in medical and pharmaceutical sciences, occurrence of complex drug interactions, increased costs of drug-related morbidity, greater possibility of medical errors, and rapidly rising health care costs. Schellens and colleagues stated: "In view of its increasing co...

An Introprofessional Geriatric Medication Activity Within a Senior Mentor Program

“…In addition, health professions' students other than medical students (eg, pharmacy students, nursing students) tend to have more positive attitudes regarding interprofessional teamwork and collaboration. 15,17,18 This goes along with the principle of least interest, where traditionally the group with the most power is typically least interested in collaboration. 15,19 These remain issues that should continue to be addressed in development and delivery of interprofessional education models.…”

“…15,17,18 This goes along with the principle of least interest, where traditionally the group with the most power is typically least interested in collaboration. 15,19 These remain issues that should continue to be addressed in development and delivery of interprofessional education models. Although our findings add to the literature and address a curricular need, our study has limitations.…”

“…The questionnaire contains 16 items constructed around 3 factors: responsibility and accountability, shared authority, and interdisciplinary education regarding pharmacistphysician collaboration. 15,16 The anonymous, voluntary SATP 2 C questionnaires were administered before and after the interprofessional geriatric medication activity using SurveyMonkey (SurveyMonkey, Inc., Palo Alto, CA). Each student was provided an anonymous code which was used to match responses before and after the experience, and given a week to complete each survey instrument.…”

Interprofessional Workshop to Improve Mutual Understanding Between Pharmacy and Medical Students

“…Important attributes of healthcare professionals include but are not limited to cognitive empathy, 1 interprofessional collaboration, 2 and patient-centered orientations. 3 Survey instruments to measure each of these attributes have been designed and validated to varying degrees.…”

“…3 Survey instruments to measure each of these attributes have been designed and validated to varying degrees. [1][2][3][4][5] Scores of healthcare professions students on the empathy and patient-centered orientation survey instruments have declined or remain unchanged instead of increasing during training. 1,3,6,7 The latter findings are disturbing because good relationships with patients and colleagues, which are likely fostered by these attributes, increase patient satisfaction, promote adherence with treatment plans, and minimize malpractice claims.…”