Call the On-Call: a study of student learning on an interprofessional training ward

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Communication
• Interprofessional Learning

Background:

• Interprofessional training wards aim to develop teamwork and communication skills in students.
• Existing literature indicates medical students often lack profession-specific tasks in these settings.
• Students require structured training for complex, real-world interprofessional communication scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore a strategy for training interprofessional communication skills alongside profession-specific tasks.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the 'On-Call' activity in an interprofessional training ward setting.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study employing ethnographic methods.
• Data collected through 75 hours of field observations, 16 interviews, and 45 pages of field notes.
• Study involved three interprofessional student teams over three two-week periods.

Main Results:

• Students gained insights into their professional roles and valued clear telephone-based interprofessional communication.
• Learning was enhanced by exposure to novel situations and subsequent peer discussions.
• The 'On-Call' activity offered new profession-specific tasks for both medical and nursing students.

Conclusions:

• The 'On-Call' activity serves as an effective pedagogical tool in interprofessional training wards.
• This strategy successfully integrates profession-specific task performance with interprofessional communication development.
• The study highlights the importance of structured learning experiences for interprofessional collaboration.