Joint interprofessional education of pharmacy and dietetics undergraduates - a scoping review

Interprofessional education (IPE) is an integrative approach that enables collaboration of students of two or more different health professions in aim to acquire skills and competencies related not only to their field of study but also to ensure the standard of care based on collaborative practice. IPE has not yet been explored in relation to collaboration between dietetics-nutrition and pharmacy students, while there is evidence that in many cases nutrition is complementary to pharmacotherapy in the treatment process.

The aim of this scoping review was to gather, describe and discuss all relevant literature regarding joint interprofessional training of pharmacy and dietetics-nutrition undergraduates.

We performed a literature search for studies where IPE between dietetics-nutrition and pharmacy students was described. 2204 articles on this topic were identified. After eligibility assessment, 8 articles were included in the review.

Eight studies were included in the review. Two of these described IPE activities between dietetics and pharmacy students only. The included studies varied in setting, methodology and outcome measures and covered a wide range of topics relevant to clinical practice, such as management of inflammatory bowel diseases, care of the older adults or counselling skills. The most common teaching method was the use of case studies. Some of the included studies did not identify specific learning objectives. The most common way of gathering feedback from participants was through questionnaires and interviews.

IPE of pharmacy and dietetics-nutrition students is feasible and may be beneficial in many aspects related to learning. However, there is no well-established model or standard that would facilitate the implementation of such activities in individual educational institutions.