Open AccessStudent Perspective on a Predoctoral Interprofessional Education Initiative
Author(s) -
Shibani Sahni,
Sang E. Park
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of curriculum and teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1927-2685
pISSN - 1927-2677
DOI - 10.5430/jct.v11n2p29
Subject(s) - interprofessional education , curriculum , health care , medical education , health professionals , medicine , nursing , perspective (graphical) , oral health , psychology , family medicine , pedagogy , artificial intelligence , computer science , economics , economic growth
Objective- The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perspectives on a newly implemented program of Interprofessional education (IPE) in terms of its effectiveness in increasing the awareness about other health care professionals and providing tools to emerging dental professionals for comprehensive health care needs. Methods- A new IPE course was incorporated in the second year of the predoctoral dental curriculum, and educators and students from various health professionals came together to provide a collaborative learning environment. The study evaluated the survey data from the graduating classes of 2019 and 2020 in the predoctoral program at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. The students were surveyed during and at the end of the course to obtain their perspectives on the effectiveness of the program. Result-The results of the surveys showed most student respondents agreed strongly that they liked getting information from other health professionals and 93-95% agreed that collaborating with other members of the health care team can help facilitate patients' overall health care. The IPE sessions helped bring about awareness of interprofessional relations and communications within the health care team and prepared the students for holistic patient care. Conclusion- The IPE methods facilitated an interactive and interprofessional learning environment to assist students in developing awareness of interprofessional relations and communications within the health care team. The connections between oral and systemic health were reinforced, thus giving predoctoral dental students a wider view of patient treatment and consideration for their patients’ comprehensive health care needs.