Interprofessional Education in Healthcare: Building Stronger Teams for Better Care

This podcast discusses an article that examines the effect of introducing interprofessional education (IPE) concepts on students from various healthcare disciplines in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study, conducted at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) in collaboration with the University of Sharjah (UoS), implemented an IPE intervention based on the principles of Situated Learning Theory (SLT) and evaluated its impact on student readiness for interprofessional learning and collaboration. The results demonstrate that the IPE intervention significantly increased students' self-assessed readiness for cross-disciplinary learning and collaboration, particularly in areas of teamwork, communication, and professional identity. The authors conclude that IPE interventions aligned with SLT can be beneficial for improving future health professionals' capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration, ultimately contributing to enhanced quality of care and patient outcomes.

https://doi-org.mbru.idm.oclc.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03571-9

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Zaynab: 00:00

Ever feel like your doctor and pharmacist, you know, aren't quite on the same page? Like, they're both focused on your health, but it's like they speak totally different languages.

Yassin: 00:07

Yeah. It's a disconnect you see pretty often, unfortunately. And it really gets at something crucial, health care we're digging into today. The whole idea of teamwork, but, like, really effective teamwork.

Zaynab: 00:19

Right. And not just any teamwork. We're talking interprofessional education, IPE. Like, imagine your entire health care team all on the same wavelength from the start. That's the dream.

Zaynab: 00:30

And we're looking at some fascinating research today all the way from the United Arab Emirates about how training future doctors, nurses, pharmacists, everyone to work together from day 1 can get amazing results for patients.

Yassin: 00:42

And what's interesting is, IPE is still relatively new in the UAE. So this research gives us a glimpse into what early IPE interventions can achieve, especially in a system where it's not already ingrained in the culture.

Zaynab: 00:55

Yeah. A fresh perspective. So this research is from let me get this right. Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, MBRU for short. They're in Dubai doing cutting edge IPE work, and they use the survey called the RIPLS to figure out how ready these students were for interprofessional learning.

Zaynab: 01:14

Like, imagine a how good are you at teamwork quiz, but specifically for health care.

Yassin: 01:19

Exactly. They were looking at how students' attitudes, their whole mindset changed because of IPE. So they tested them before and after a specific IPE session to see if it made a real difference.

Zaynab: 01:30

Okay. So what this IPE session actually involve? Did they just lecture students about teamwork or what?

Yassin: 01:34

They wanted to make it real, applicable. They based the session on what's called situated learning theory. Basically, it means making the learning environment feel like a real world situation. So they used these two case studies, super realistic, to get students from different healthcare fields working together. 1 was about pain management and the other focused on stroke.

Zaynab: 01:55

Intense. Throwing them right into it. What kind of impact did that have?

Yassin: 01:58

They looked at 3 main things, teamwork, obviously, then professional identity, and roles and responsibilities. When it came to teamwork, this IPE intervention was a home run. Scores shot up after that session.

Zaynab: 02:11

Wow. Seriously. Just from that one session, students were more gung ho about being on a team. Tell me more.

Yassin: 02:17

Oh, totally. And here's where it gets interesting. The study found that at first, the medical students, they approached the case studies very technically, you know, very clinical.

Zaynab: 02:25

Well, yeah. Future doctors. Right. What about the other students?

Yassin: 02:28

Right. But the nursing students and the pharmacy students, they brought up all these other essential things, communication, empathy, treating the patient as a person, not just a case. It really opened the medical student's eyes.

Zaynab: 02:40

So it wasn't just about working together, but about understanding what good care really means. That's huge. Wow. Talk about a wake up call for those med students. Right?

Zaynab: 02:50

It's like they suddenly realized, hey. There's a whole human side to this whole doctor thing.

Yassin: 02:54

Yeah. For sure. And that actually leads perfectly into the second thing they looked at, professional identity. You see, IPE helps students really own their roles, you know, feel confident about what they bring to the table.

Zaynab: 03:06

It's like instead of just I'm a nurse, it's I'm a nurse and my perspective matters.

Yassin: 03:11

Exactly. And in this study, nursing students especially felt that shift. The IPE made them realize how much their expertise, their focus on the patient's well-being, all that was crucial for teamwork and good care.

Zaynab: 03:25

It makes you wonder. If we're aiming for truly integrated health care teams, you know, everyone in sync, should this kind of training seeing different perspectives be, like, mandatory for all health care fields?

Yassin: 03:39

It's a huge question right now in health care education, especially with how complex patient care is becoming. And this study, even though it's a starting point, it shows how powerful it can be to expose students to different perspectives early on. It's not just about how they view teamwork, but how much they value their own role in it too.

Zaynab: 03:55

Right. Because when everyone gets each other's roles, they're gonna communicate better. Right? Less chance of those misunderstandings that could be, you know, actually dangerous for patients.

Yassin: 04:03

Absolutely. Yeah. And that brings us to the third thing they looked at, roles and responsibilities. Now this is where it gets interesting because remember how much teamwork and professional identity improved.

Zaynab: 04:15

Yeah. Way better.

Yassin: 04:16

Okay. Well, defining exactly who does what, that was trickier. Students still had some uncertainty about that even with the boost in teamwork and knowing their own roles better.

Zaynab: 04:26

So even though they felt better working as a team, they were still a bit fuzzy on the specifics when it came to real life situations.

Yassin: 04:32

Exactly. And health care is just complicated. So many moving parts. This IPE session, it was great, a solid first step. But that deep understanding of everyone's roles and responsibilities in all kinds of situations, well, that takes time and lots of exposure.

Zaynab: 04:48

It's like, learning a new language, maybe. You get the basics, but then there are all those little nuances you can't cram it all into one lesson

Yassin: 04:55

Right.

Zaynab: 04:56

Even if it's super realistic.

Yassin: 04:57

Right. And this finding is so relevant because even in the UAE, where IPE is still fairly new, they're already bumping up against this.

Zaynab: 05:06

It's like they're trailblazers, kind of. Setting the stage for more collaboration, but realizing there's still a long way to go. It's kinda like they're figuring it all out in real time and everyone's watching.

Yassin: 05:16

Yeah.

Zaynab: 05:17

But it does make you think, what does all this tell us about where health care education needs to go next?

Yassin: 05:22

That's the big question. Right? This study, even though it's just one study in one place, it gives us some clues about what IPE can do. But also the challenges, like, even a short IPE session, if it's done right, it can change how students feel about teamwork and how they see their own roles. But then really getting those roles and responsibilities down pat, that's gonna take more than just one session no matter how real you make it.

Zaynab: 05:45

Yeah. It's like, okay. So you're building a house. Right? You need that foundation, the teamwork, everyone understand each other, but then you gotta build the walls brick by brick.

Zaynab: 05:53

That's, like, the constant learning working together over time.

Yassin: 05:56

That's a great analogy, and that's the challenge, but also the exciting part. How do we make sure that learning keeps happening? That students and even health care professionals already out there get those chances to learn from each other, to really get those roles down. It can't just be a one time thing, you know. It's gotta be part of how we do health care education, period.

Zaynab: 06:16

Which brings us back to well, you listening right now. Think about your own experiences. Ever feel like, wait. Shouldn't my doctor and my pharmacist already be on the same page about this?

Yassin: 06:26

We've all been there. Right? And as frustrating as it is, sometimes those experiences are what make us push for better. Because let's face it, health care is only getting more complex. Having everyone on the same team isn't just about things running smoothly.

Yassin: 06:40

It's about patients getting the best care possible. And, you know, it's about patients feeling empowered to speak up to make sure everyone's on the same page.

Zaynab: 06:48

So true. So as you're thinking about this research, thinking about your own experiences, here's one last thing to chew on. This study, they looked at what happened right after that IPE thing. Right? But what about down the road?

Zaynab: 06:59

You think this kind of experience, learning to work together, really seeing other professions' points of view, you think that sticks with those students once they're actually out there working?

Yassin: 07:10

That's the $1,000,000 question. Yeah. If we want IPE to really transform health care, we gotta figure that out. Yeah. What's the long term impact?

Yassin: 07:17

Does it change not just how these future doctors and nurses work, but how they lead? Do they fight for that collaborative spirit wherever they go?

Zaynab: 07:26

Big questions. And on that note, we're wrapping up another deep dive from a university in Dubai all the way to the future of health care. We've covered a lot. Teamwork, those tricky roles and responsibilities, and just how much potential there is when health care professionals really work together. Thanks for joining us.