A Structured Immersion Approach to Approaching Interprofessional Education

Interprofessional education (IPE) must explore the interdependency between healthcare professionals and ensure that IPE learning experiences are rooted in sound teaching and learning theories. Embedding IPE experiences into curricula using an incremental progression rather than "add-on" or "one-and-done" experience provides for continuous development of interprofessional competence by students as part of the learning process. Employing a school-wide structured immersion approach, over a 2-year period, incorporating five core IPE experiences designed to incrementally engage students in deeper, community-rich, person-centered learning experiences that are meaningful and sustainable.

An exploratory mixed-methods approach to collected data during the 2018-2019 academic year of the Core Signature IPE Experiences was employed (I-V). As part of the program review process, students were asked to voluntarily provide anonymous feedback after completion of each Core. Quantitative data was collected using Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Qualitative data were obtained from responses to open-ended questions added to the demographic component of the survey. The open-ended questions were designed to support, explain, and provide depth to the quantitative section. An elemental coding method was used to preliminarily review the corpus and generate descriptive codes and themes. Descriptive codes summarize in a word or short phrase the basic topic of a qualitative passage.

Quantitative data of IEPS scores demonstrated students' mean scores in high range for each subscale at Core II (5.15) and slightly positive trend observed across three remaining Cores with Core V displaying highest mean score (5.44). From the qualitative survey, descriptive codes were agreed upon by two reviewers as providing the essence of response topic. Qualitative themes support and provide insight into quantitative data.

Recognizing the interdependency which exits between professionals and developing trust and mutual respect among disciplines is paramount to ensuring evidence-based, person-centered healthcare. Infusing IPE learning experiences in the academy can play an important role in student development; however, IPE experiences must be rooted in learning theory. Program review findings from the Core Signature structured immersion experiences used across six health professions offers insight and a sound direction for health profession programs seeking to design IPE experiences that will aid in elevating the standard of healthcare and improving patient outcomes, by creating a collaborative ready workforce.