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The authors describe the development and psychometric testing across three study phases of an Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale. The measure contains two subscales: Quality of Care/Process (14 items) and Physician Centrality (6 items). The Quality of Care/Process subscale measures team members' perceptions of the quality of care delivered by health care teams and the quality of teamwork to accomplish this. The Physician Centrality subscale measures team members' attitudes toward physicians' authority in teams and their control over information about patients.

This article provides an overview of major interprofessional health care, education and research initiatives in the USA in the past fifty years, beginning with a short introduction that places the discussion into a conceptual and historical perspective and ending with some considerations for the future of interprofessional care in the USA.

The team approach to geriatric care does not automatically result in appropriate decision making with regard to elderly patients with multiple chronic problems and complicated, overlapping needs. In this article, Janis's (1972, 1982) group‐think theory and tests of facets of the theory are examined. A modified theory is then applied to geriatric health care teams using a case scenario. Suggestions for minimizing the conditions that lead to groupthink and the resultant poor decisions are made.

Interaction during four to seven meetings of four interdisciplinary health care teams was videotaped and coded for amount of interaction initiated and received by doctor, nurses, and nutritionists in each team. Process categories such as “asks opinion,” “gives information,” and “gives order,” were also coded for each participant in each meeting. A model of collegial interaction was developed, and the teams were compared with the model.

Anderson ES, Thorpe, LN. (2014). Students improve patient care and prepare for professional practice: an  interprofessional community-based study. Medical Teacher. 36(6): 495–504.

Background: We report on an education model, which enables students to contribute to practice while experiencing the realities of complex team-working in the community.

Aims: The study considers how interprofessional learning impacts on patient care and service delivery.

Background: A four-year action research study was conducted across the Australian Capital Territory health system to strengthen interprofessional collaboration (IPC) though multiple intervention activities.

Background: This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the Interprofessional Team Reasoning Framework (IPTRF) to facilitate teaching and learning case studies with health professions students.

Background: Health professions education programs use simulation for teaching and maintaining clinical procedural skills. Simulated learning activities are also becoming useful methods of instruction for interprofessional education. The simulation environment for interprofessional training allows participants to explore collaborative ways of improving communicative aspects of clinical care.

Background: Many measurement scales for interprofessional collaboration are developed for one health professional group, typically nurses. Evaluating interprofessional collaborative relationships can benefit from employing a measurement scale suitable for multiple health provider groups, including physicians and other health professionals. To this end, the paper begins development of a new interprofessional collaboration measurement scale designed for use with nurses, physicians, and other professionals practicing in contemporary acute care settings.

Preferred Citation: Mersfelder, TL & Bouthillier, MJ. (2012). Value of the student pharmacist to experiential practice sites: a review of the literature. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 46(4), 41-8. DOI: 10.1345/aph.1Q544.

PMID: 22474134