RESEARCH REPORT PLATFORM PRESENTATION

DOCUMENTING THE PROCESS AND INITIAL OUTCOMES FROM INTERPROFESSIONAL CLINICAL PLACEMENT EXPERIENCES. Asseraf-Pasin L¹, Birlean C¹, Redden K¹, Takahashi S², Shore B¹; ¹McGill University. ²Shriners Hospital for Children

PURPOSE: Little is known about students’ interprofessional attitudes in the context of interprofessional clinical education (Hind, Norman, Cooper, Gill, Hilton, Judd & Jones, 2003). The purpose of this study was to understand (primarily from the students’ perspective) the planning, process, and outcomes from an interprofessional (IP) clinical placement. An IP education program was developed by an IP team in a Spina-Bifida pediatric clinic because administration pushed for the team to meaningfully integrate students doing clinical placements. RELEVANCE: This presentation will explain how an IP clinical placement was organized, developed, evaluated, and used to inform subsequent IP clinical placements. PARTICIPANTS: Five students (2 physiotherapy, 2 nursing, 1 occupational therapy), three preceptors (1 physiotherapist, 1 nurse, 1 occupational therapist), and one clinical nurse specialist (IPE program director) participated in this study. All students who were involved in the placement participated. The three preceptors most directly involved with the students were invited to participate, and the IPE program director was a key informant and crucial to understanding program planning. METHODS: The program was observed qualitatively by (a) regular communication with the program director, (b) notes from the preceptor meetings throughout the program, (c) a student-journaling activity, and (d) open-ended follow-up forms asking students about their understanding of own and other professional roles, and interprofessional education and practice. Three standardized questionnaires (Entry Level Interprofessional Questionnaire (Pollard et al., 2004), Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (Hawk et al., 2002), Attitudes towards Health Professionals Questionnaire (Lindqvist et al., 2005)) were administered to students before and after the clinical placement. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics create pre-post profiles of the five students and summarize student-ratings of usefulness and level of interest on key components of the clinical placement. Transcripts of open-ended questionnaire items, observations, preceptor notes, and student-journaling activities were inductively analyzed through open coding (Strauss, & Corbin, 1998). RESULTS: Students held positive attitudes toward interprofessional education and practice. Students reported learning about own and other professional roles from the IP clinical placement. The key challenge reported by students and preceptors was creating a balanced schedule between time spent on clinical competencies and interprofessionalism. CONCLUSIONS: Success of this program indicates that interprofessional education helps clarify professional roles for students, and that learning together enhances clinical placement experiences. In the words of one student: “I think each student should experience an IP clinical placement at least once during their program. Ideally, this would be in the second year when they have a good understanding of their own profession but can still benefit from learning about others. Learning in school about the roles of HCPs is not the same as working and interacting with them. You learn more and gain a greater respect when you work interprofessionally within a team. This is a good way to promote IPP in the future; it is the best way to attain interprofessional care!” IMPLICATIONS: This presentation will generate discussion around the need to increase IP in clinical placements in order to prepare physiotherapists for practice in health care systems that are increasingly supporting IP patient and family-centered practice. KEYWORDS: Process/Outcomes/Interprofessionalism/Clinical Placement. FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The McGill Educational Initiative on Interprofessional Collaboration: Partnership for Patient and Family-Centred Practice. CONTACT: liliane.asseraf.pasin@mcgill.ca

ETHICS COMMITTEE: McGill University, Faculty of Medicine