A Realist Evaluation of an Interprofessional Education Curriculum for Pharmacy

This study explores the impact of an interprofessional education (IPE) curriculum on pharmacy students and recent graduates.

Due to the complexity of evaluating an IPE curriculum over a 4-year pharmacy program, a mixed-methods realist evaluation was conducted examining quantitative and qualitative data from 2021 and 2022 pharmacy graduate cohorts. Data included learning activity surveys and written reflections of placements completed by pharmacy students, and semistructured interviews of recent Doctor of Pharmacy graduates. Thematic analyses and descriptive statistics were employed to explore and understand the development of collaborative competencies throughout the curriculum and into practice, identifying the contributing mechanisms and resulting outcomes of the University of Toronto's IPE curriculum.

University of Toronto pharmacy graduates developed collaborative competencies, particularly role clarification, team functioning, team communication, and relationship-focused care. There was less evidence of competency in team differences or disagreements and collaborative leadership. The 3-day pain-focused learning activity and patient partner sessions provided the most effective learning, as well as case-based learning activities. Disabling mechanisms were largely logistical, with virtual learning and communication format challenges being most prominent.

A realist evaluation was an effective way of evaluating the collaborative competency development of University of Toronto pharmacy graduates. Growth opportunities for the curriculum were in team differences or disagreements and collaborative leadership, particularly in the areas of prescribing disagreements and medical dominance. Enabling and disabling mechanisms were also identified which can inform the curriculum in collaborative competency development in future Doctor of Pharmacy graduates.