Training for Collaborative Care: How Hospital Team Members View Pharmacy Students

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Pharmacy Practice
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) is common in Canadian health professional programs.
• Structured on-campus IPE activities are prevalent, but hospital-based learner engagement remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore healthcare professionals' expectations and experiences collaborating with pharmacy students during clinical training.
• To understand how mixed-discipline teams perceive the role of pharmacy trainees in patient care.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving semistructured interviews with 14 mixed-discipline team members on an acute medicine clinical teaching unit.
• Interviews were transcribed, coded independently by two researchers, and analyzed using template analysis to identify key themes.

Main Results:

• Team members viewed pharmacy students primarily as informants (medication expertise) or bridges (facilitating communication with physicians).
• Physicians utilized students for medication knowledge and study data; non-physicians used students to understand physician decision-making.
• Infrequent accounts of students actively consulting for patient assessments or accessing multidisciplinary knowledge were noted.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare professionals' expectations often lacked routine engagement or shared decision-making for pharmacy students.
• Current workplace-based learning presents challenges for developing collaborative care skills.
• Intentional interprofessional exercises guided by preceptors are needed to enhance pharmacy student integration and collaborative practice.