Evaluation of an interprofessional education workshop about common ocular conditions for pharmacy and optometry students.

Clinical Relevance: Interprofessional education and collaborative working are known to improve patient outcomes. The evidence to support this approach in optometry is lacking.

Background: There is no published evidence into the effectiveness of interprofessional education for pharmacy and optometry students. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an interprofessional case-based learning session that took place between third year pharmacy students and final year optometry students at the University of Manchester.

Methods: Students worked together in a 1.5-hour workshop to help each other gain an understanding of common ocular conditions that may present to primary care. Students were randomised into two groups; the control group answered all the pre and post questions before the teaching session. The intervention group answered the pre questions at the beginning and the post questions immediately after the teaching session. Nonparametric statistics were employed to look for differences in the two groups.

Results: The control groups of pharmacy and optometry students did not significantly differ in their pre and post test scores ( = .069 pharmacy and  = .082 for optometry). The post scores for the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group. For pharmacy students the control group post score average was 44.9% (±20.5) and the intervention group was 63.2% (±15.9). For optometry students the control group post score average was 35% (±21.2) and the intervention group was 57.5% (±19.9).

Conclusion: Interprofessional education is a useful way to increase student knowledge of the management of authentic clinical cases in primary care.