Interprofessional education for shared decision making in drug therapy: a scoping review

The current complex scenario of medication use calls for the implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives focused on shared decision making (SDM) in drug therapy. A scoping review was conducted to collate, summarize, and report the evidence available on IPE teaching and learning approaches in this context, involving pre-licensure healthcare students. Searches were conducted in seven electronic databases, with 21 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. This review examines educational strategies employed for interprofessional SDM as well as characteristics of students, teachers, and tutors involved in IPE interventions. The reviewed studies lack detailed description of the students' decision-making process, and none addresses aspects related to patient preferences as a part of learning outcomes. We identified shortcomings in how IPE interventions are assessed and reported. Only a few of the studies explicitly describe the use of competency-based frameworks proposed by national and international organizations, and less than 60% describe learning outcomes. The absence of experiences focused on interprofessional SDM in drug therapy suggests a gap that needs to be addressed with future studies evaluated in a robust way. We argue that such experiences enable students, as a team, to learn to share decisions with the patient as an effective team member.