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Interprofessional education (IPE) in clinical practice is believed to improve outcomes in health care delivery. Integrating teaching and learning objectives through cross discipline student interaction in basic sciences has the potential to initiate interprofessional collaboration at the early stages of health care education. Student attitudes and effectiveness of IPE in the context of a combined gross anatomy course for first-year students in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees curricula were evaluated.

To achieve effective interprofessional learning there must be effective teaching. In this study we analyse the impact of a Masters level two day course designed to prepare teachers for their role(s) in the design development and facilitation of interprofessional student groups. Since its inception the course has run periodically each year attracting over 70 health and social care teachers from academic and practice settings.

Research shows slow improvement of the care of dying persons and their significant others. One of the reasons for that is the lack of palliative care education as an integral part of health professionals' undergraduate education. The paper discusses an attempt to develop innovative forms of palliative care education: an international, interprofessional and IT-supported undergraduate course for Swedish and Slovenian students of nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology and social work, which has been developed jointly by the two authors.

BACKGROUND:

Safe drug prescribing and administration are essential elements within undergraduate healthcare curricula, but medication errors, especially in paediatric practice, continue to compromise patient safety. In this area of clinical care, collective responsibility, team working and communication between health professionals have been identified as key elements in safe clinical practice. To date, there is limited research evidence as to how best to deliver teaching and learning of these competencies to practitioners of the future.

METHODS:

BACKGROUND:

One of the major barriers to effective team working among healthcare professionals is a lack of knowledge of each other's roles. The importance of understanding Irish healthcare students' attitudes towards team working and each other's roles led to the development of this study.

AIMS:

The aims were to investigate allied health professional students' perceptions and experiences of the stroke rehabilitation team and the role of the Speech and Language Therapist (SLT).

METHODS & PROCEDURES:

Interprofessional collaboration is vital to the delivery of quality care in long-term care settings; however, caregivers in long-term care face barriers to participating in training programs to improve collaborative practices. Consequently, eLearning can be used to create an environment that combines convenient, individual learning with collaborative experiential learning. Findings of this study revealed that learners enjoyed the flexibility of the Working Together learning resource.

The promotion of interprofessional working is a key government target for healthcare professionals. This article outlines one approach to establish inter-professional learning in the practice setting using systems based on current clinical placement allocation of students from a variety of health and social care professions. By utilising current unprofessional support systems for developing the learning environment, inter-professional learning opportunities were created for students.

A significant number of patients requiring critical care are now being managed outside of critical care facilities. There is evidence that staff looking after these patients lack the necessary knowledge and skills to care for them safely, and that effective pre-registration education can play a significant role in addressing these shortfalls in nurses' knowledge and skills.

BACKGROUND:

Multiple-choice exams are not well suited for assessing communication skills. Standardized patient assessments are costly and patient and peer assessments are often biased. Web-based assessment using video content offers the possibility of reliable, valid, and cost-efficient means for measuring complex communication skills, including interprofessional communication.

DESCRIPTION:

This research was part of a Health Canada funded initiative developed to provide evidence about the effectiveness of interprofessional education (IPE) interventions to promote collaborative patient-centred care. Health professional students' ratings of health professions and the effect of IPE on those ratings were examined. Participants were divided into three groups (N=51); control, education, and practice site immersion.