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Health professions students' perceptions of interprofessional relationships
Cheryl Hawk1, Kathleen Buckwalter, Lori Byrd
1Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, 741 Brady Street, Davenport, Iowa 52803, USA. hawk_c@palmer.edu
Summary
Health professions students show varied perceptions of interprofessional cooperation. Physician assistant students reported the most positive attitudes, while chiropractic students reported the least positive, indicating a need for further investigation into interprofessional education.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Education
- Interprofessional Collaboration
- Student Perceptions
Background:
- Interprofessional cooperation is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.
- Understanding student perceptions is key to developing successful interprofessional training programs.
- The Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) is a validated tool for assessing attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a preliminary assessment of health professions students' perceptions of interprofessional cooperation.
- To establish normative data for the IEPS across various health professions.
- To identify differences in interprofessional cooperation perceptions among diverse student groups.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire including demographic questions and the 18-item Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) was administered.
- The study involved 588 health professions students from eight different disciplines.
- The IEPS measures attitudes on a six-point Likert scale across four factors: competence/autonomy, perceived need for cooperation, actual cooperation, and understanding others' value.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in total mean IEPS scores were observed among the professional groups (p =.001).
- Physician assistant students reported the highest (most positive) attitudes, while chiropractic students reported the lowest.
- Medical students' scores were significantly lower than physician assistant students but higher than chiropractic students, with no significant differences from osteopathy, physical therapy, nursing, podiatry, or social work students at alpha =.05.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first normative IEPS data for students in these eight health professions.
- The IEPS can be a valuable tool for evaluating interdisciplinary training programs.
- Findings highlight variations in student perceptions, suggesting targeted interventions may be needed to foster interprofessional cooperation.