Simulation interprofessional education in health professions education: a scoping review protocol

The objective of this scoping review is to identify, collate, and map the evidence on simulation interprofessional education activities in any setting for the education of health professional students.

Simulation interprofessional education activities comprise in-person and collaborative online learning embedded in formal curricula. Though the number of simulation interprofessional education activities has increased with the knowledge of the importance of effective interprofessional collaboration, the literature still lacks a description of the characteristics of existing activities.

This scoping review will consider interprofessional education activities taking place within a simulation environment. Included papers will report on activities with two or more types of learners in health professional programs.

The proposed scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Databases searched will include PubMed, CINAHL, and ERIC. Results will be limited to English-language publications from 2016 to the present year. Data extraction will be performed using a purposefully developed data extraction tool. Teams of reviewers will screen abstracts and full texts of articles for potential inclusion, and decisions will be determined via consensus of two out of three reviewers. Extracted data will be presented in diagrammatic or tabular form in a manner that aligns with the objective of this scoping review. A narrative summary will accompany the tabulated and/or charted results and will describe how the results relate to the review's objective and questions, and how the results might inform future simulation interprofessional education activities in health professions education.