Implementing and evaluating a community-based, inter-institutional, interprofessional education pilot programme.

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Education
• Community-Based Learning

Background:

• Integrating interprofessional learning (IPE) into health professions curricula is increasing.
• Community-based IPE initiatives remain relatively scarce.
• The Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance developed a novel community-based IPE program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a community-based IPE program on students' interprofessional competencies.
• To evaluate students' understanding of social determinants of health.
• To support the expansion of IPE beyond traditional academic settings.

Main Methods:

• Thirty students from ten health professions were divided into six interprofessional teams.
• Teams collaborated with community organizations, staff, and clients to address local health priorities.
• Interprofessional Socialisation and Valuing Scale (ISVS) assessed students' comfort, value, and self-perceived ability in working with others.

Main Results:

• Significant increases were observed in students' comfort working with others (CWO), value in working with others (VWO), and self-perceived ability (SPA) to work with others.
• Programme evaluations indicated an improved understanding of social determinants of health among students.
• Findings align with existing literature on community-based IPE.

Conclusions:

• Community-based IPE programs effectively enhance students' interprofessional skills and social determinants of health awareness.
• The program's success supports the scalability of IPE initiatives in diverse community settings.
• Further development of community-based IPE is recommended to prepare future health professionals.