Increasing Awareness of a Low-Visibility Profession Using a 20-Minute Intervention: An IPE Activity Featuring Medical...

Medical laboratory scientists (MLS) are essential to patient care, providing vital analytical data for diagnostic decisions. Despite this, MLS remains a low-visibility profession. This study explores how a 20-minute interprofessional education (IPE) intervention influences students' awareness of MLS when placed in interprofessional student groups with a MLS guest health professional during a 20-minute Zoom discussion. The guest professionals shared their roles, discussed collaborating with other patient care team members, and answered student questions. Secondary data from 2022 and 2023 student evaluations completed following the IPE session were analyzed using qualitative coding for emergent themes to explore the awareness and perceptions of MLS roles, responsibilities, and their value in patient care of non-MLS students assigned to a group with an MLS guest health professional presenter. Four themes emerged including awareness of the MLS profession, scope of practice, collaboration in healthcare, and value of the MLS role in patient care. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that students positively perceived the introductory IPE session and valued IPE overall in their health program curricula. Exposure to MLS, a low-visibility profession, through a brief IPE intervention enhanced students' aware¬ness of the MLS profession, scope of practice, collaborative efforts, and value in patient care.