Interprofessional working in acute care | JoVE Visualize

Area of Science:

Medical Education
Healthcare Professions Education
Interprofessional Learning

Background:

Acute care settings necessitate effective interprofessional collaboration for optimal patient outcomes.
Pre-qualification training for medical, nursing, and physiotherapy students requires explicit development of collaborative skills.
The Interprofessional Working in Acute Care (IWAC) module was designed to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe the development and implementation of a novel interprofessional module for undergraduate healthcare students.
To integrate interprofessional learning into existing medical, nursing, and physiotherapy curricula.
To foster collaborative working skills in an acute care context.

Main Methods:

A blended-learning, 15-credit module (IWAC) was developed and vertically integrated.
Learning modalities included self-directed study, in-practice teaching, clinical observation, simulation-based teaching (SBT), and peer collaboration.
Four acute care scenarios requiring interprofessional teamwork formed the core of the SBT component.
Students worked in assigned interprofessional groups throughout the module.
A common assessment involved a collaborative group presentation focusing on role reflection.

Main Results:

The module successfully integrated diverse learning methods, with a strong emphasis on simulation-based teaching.
Interprofessional groups were formed to facilitate collaborative learning and problem-solving in simulated acute care situations.
The assessment encouraged reflection on the roles of different healthcare professionals within the team.

Conclusions:

The development of the IWAC module represents an innovative approach to interprofessional education in undergraduate healthcare programs.
The study highlights practical challenges and opportunities in implementing interprofessional learning within existing academic structures.
This initiative contributes to the broader discourse on enhancing teaching praxis in interprofessional healthcare education.