An Evaluation of Faculty Perceptions and Knowledge of Interprofessional Education (IPE) After a Faculty Training Course Using Medical Simulation

Abstract

Background:

IPE and medical simulation are both used by health professionals to improve collaboration, communication, and safety in the health care environment. The lack of knowledge and perceptions about IPE can have a major impact on the implementation of IPE into the curricula of health professional programs. This study focused on how IPE knowledge and perceptions among health professions faculty at a research university changed as a result of a faculty training course that leveraged medical simulation to teach IPE.

Methods:

IRB approval for this study was obtained. A pre/post-course survey was given consisting of the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS), and five IPE knowledge multiple-choice questions based on the Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies. Data analysis included a paired t-test of the pre/post survey data at an alpha level of 0.05. A focus group followed each training session and a thematic content analysis was performed using inductive and deductive coding. The 4-hour course was given four times over two months. Revisions to the course were made after each session based on participants’ feedback. 30 faculty from the medical, dental, graduate, nursing, and allied health colleges participated in the course.

Results:

The findings included statistically significant increases in questions regarding the definition of IPE (P = .043) and communication skills needed for IPE (P = .03), along with improved perceptions of the need to work together (P = .039) and seek advice from other professionals (P = .037). These results were corroborated by focus group responses in which participants reported misconceptions with the definition of IPE, a strong interest to implement IPE into their curricula, the use of simulation to teach communication skills, the importance of having multiple professions involved in patient care, the need to address professional role biases, and having a working knowledge of each other’s roles before IPE could occur.

Conclusions:

The study demonstrated medical simulation is an effective modality through which to develop faculty in interprofessional education. Limitations to our study including a small number of participants, the amount of time required for the course, previous knowledge of IPE by participants and the improvements made to the course after each session which could have impacted the participants’ perceptions and knowledge of IPE. Final revisions have been made to the training course and the study will continue.