Resource Center

Objective

To describe the development and pilot study of the Practice Site Readiness for Interprofessional Education (PRIPE) instrument.

Methods

The 30-item PRIPE instrument was developed to assess the structural and procedural readiness of experiential pharmacy practice sites for interprofessional education (IPE) using the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) as a main source of inspiration. A pilot study of PRIPE was conducted via investigator-led, structured interviews of geriatric and pediatric experiential preceptors. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the results.

Results

Twenty interviews were completed, yielding a response rate of 51.3%. There was an equal distribution of geriatric and pediatric preceptors; 55% were faculty and 45% were adjunct. All practice sites were found to train other health care professional students (nursing 95%; medical 55%; social work 35%; physical therapy 25%; occupational therapy, physician assistant, and psychology 20%; dentistry 15%; and public health 0%). Journal clubs and topic discussions emerged as opportunities to expand IPE. Over 50% of preceptors reported frequently meeting the IPEC core competencies related to communication (listen, exchange ideas, and use respectful language), teamwork (use complimentary abilities, build relationships, and share accountability and patient-centered problem-solving), and roles/responsibilities (clarify responsibilities). Of the preceptors, 80% of them reported that their practice met the definition of interprofessionality.

Conclusions

PRIPE is a useful instrument to identify potential IPE collaborators and collaboration-friendly IPE activities at experiential practice sites as well as to assess the frequency with which critical IPEC core competencies are being met. The authors envision academic and practice site administrators utilizing PRIPE as a quality control measure.