Design and evaluation of an interprofessional education workshop series for preclinical and prelicensure health professional students.

Background: There are a variety of designs and implementation strategies reported for interprofessional education (IPE); however, most of these descriptions lack robust evaluations of interprofessional (IP) outcomes.

Interprofessional Education Activity: An IPE Workshop Series was implemented for preclinical and prelicensure students in eight health professions, consisting of four sessions: health professionals' roles and responsibilities (1A); introduction to patient safety (1B); IP diabetes management (2A); and IP pain management in the opioid epidemic (2B). For Workshops 2A and 2B, student perceptions of IPE were measured using the validated Students Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education Revised Version 2 and IP team care plans were assessed with a rubric. Five hundred twenty-seven students attended all four workshops and completed all surveys. Student perceptions of IPE and collaboration were significantly increased after completing the IPE Workshop Series. Most teams met or exceeded expectations on the diabetes team care plans for collaboration, addressing patient concerns, and gaps in care; however, most teams needed improvement on addressing additional workup and management. The pain management team care plans were below expectations for most teams.

Discussion: Student perceptions of IP collaboration increased and were maintained longitudinally indicating a positive impact on this IPE outcome; however, performance on team care plans did not meet faculty expectations suggesting areas for improvement in the design and evaluation for this outcome.

Implications: These findings reinforce the importance of evaluation to ensure IPE curricula are achieving IP outcomes, notably, utilizing validated instruments and incorporating faculty assessments that are appropriately leveled for learners.