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Interprofessional learning is seen as increasingly important for all health and social care workers. How this is integrated into the education of these workers is less clear and more of a challenge. This article describes an online learning activity used to facilitate interprofessional learning in a Faculty of Health and Social Care in the UK. An online conference was used to bring students together, utilising a real life case scenario based around a family within a virtual town. Students from a variety of programmes and professional groups participated in an asynchronous discussion forum.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the influence of interdisciplinary seminars for undergraduate nursing and social work students on development of their understanding of the meaning of caring.

In this paper, the authors present the results of a study which delineated six key competencies of interprofessional collaborative practice for patient-centred care: communication; strength in one's professional role; knowledge of professional role of others; leadership; team function; and negotiation for conflict resolution.

AIMS:

To examine the influence of interdisciplinary seminars on undergraduate nursing and social work students' perceptions of their learning.

BACKGROUND:

CONTEXT:

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been gaining traction in post-secondary institutions. Many schools introduce IPE early to their health professional students, often in the context of a large-scale event in Year 1. This paper presents findings from a study undertaken by a medical student (a classmate of the research participants) and details Year 1 students' initial perceptions of IPE.

METHODS:

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21554067

Interprofessional education (IPE) should help to promote a team-based approach to professional practice but there are barriers to its implementation including professional identity. The aim of this study was to use a qualitative research methodology to explore dental and dental care professional (DCP) students' perceptions of professional roles and identities in the dental team. Data were collected by means of focus groups from a purposive sample of dental and DCP students and were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using an explanatory framework.

Small group learning is an interactive activity that requires a skilled teacher with the ability to facilitate and debrief. Approximately 250 students from seven health professions were enrolled in a first year interprofessional education course that focused on the importance of communication and collaboration. Weekly faculty debrief sessions were conducted and were utilized to share the teachers perspectives with facilitative teaching as well as for feedback and improvement strategies.

An interprofessional clinical learning experience was developed for pre-licensure occupational therapy (OT) and psychology graduate students. Students worked in interprofessional teams to plan and implement a social skills training program for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The objectives were to provide a hands-on, student-led clinical experience; facilitate interprofessional collaborative learning through leadership partnerships and teach children with ASD to engage in appropriate social skill behaviors.

PubMed URL:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22233373