Dental-Pharmacy Collaboration: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Case-Based IPE Session

Safe management of medically complex dental patients increasingly depends on purposeful collaboration between dentists and pharmacists, yet discipline-spanning training opportunities remain uneven. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a brief, case-anchored interprofessional education (IPE) session on collaborative practice competencies between dental and pharmacy students, using anticoagulant management as the shared clinical problem.

In a single 3-hour session, third-year dental and second-year pharmacy students (n = 118) completed a case on dental extraction for a patient taking apixaban, role-clarification exercises, and a team counseling simulation with gamified review. A retrospective pre-post Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) assessed self-rated competencies (paired-samples t-tests; Cohen's d). Open-ended reflections were analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis aligned to CRe-DEPTH reporting.

Nineteen of 20 ICCAS items improved significantly (p < 0.05). Effect sizes were small-to-moderate (0.49-0.71), with largest gains in non-judgmental communication, respectful conflict management, co-developing care plans, and constructive feedback. Thematic analysis indicated (1) clearer understanding of complementary roles and consult triggers; (2) greater confidence communicating across disciplines; and (3) logistical frictions (timing/instructions) that reduced engagement for some learners.

A concise, case-based dental-pharmacy IPE focused on high-risk pharmacotherapy can measurably strengthen collaborative competencies and role clarity. Enhancing logistics and embedding explicit consult pathways may further amplify impact. Findings support integrating targeted dental-pharmacy IPE into predoctoral curricula to accelerate readiness for safe, team-based care.