Interprofessional Education on the Neurology Clerkship for Physical Therapy and Medical Students

Globally, neurological disorders make up the second most common cause of death and are the leading cause of years lived with disability. Because neurological patients often require multidisciplinary care and future professionals will encounter increasing demands for neurological care, it is important to emphasize education on the interaction between physical therapy (PT) and neurology. Yet there is a dearth of interprofessional education (IPE) learning activities that include neurology clerkship students and physical therapists.

We created a 4-hour IPE experience that incorporated hospitalized patients with neurological disorders who were examined at the bedside by pairs of second- and third-year PT students and second- and third-year medical students, followed by a debriefing. Participants completed the Self-Efficacy for Interprofessional Experiential Learning (SEIEL) survey before and after the session.

Significant pre/post improvements were seen for SEIEL total and domain scores (n = 75, p < .001). Qualitative comments were analyzed; major themes that emerged included a greater appreciation for the other discipline. Students felt the IPE activity was a great learning opportunity to understand roles and responsibilities and communicate with the other discipline.

Students noted significant increases in their ability to understand and explain the importance of interprofessional communication and in their capabilities as health care professionals to work together on an interprofessional collaborative team. This clinical IPE experience can be seamlessly incorporated into the workplace for medical and PT students. IPE activities like this should be encouraged and developed to reach more students and other health care providers.