An interprofessional objective structured teaching experience (iOSTE): An interprofessional preceptor professional development activity

Disentangling faculty development: A scoping review towards a rich description of the concept and its practice

BACKGROUND

There is wide variation in how faculty development (FD) is practiced globally and described in the literature. This scoping review aims to clarify how FD is conceptualised and practiced in health professions education.

METHODOLOGY

Using a systematic search strategy, 418 papers, published between 2015-2023, were included for full text review. We extracted data using closed and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were summarised using descriptive statistics and qualitative data synthesised using content analysis.

RESULTS

Faculty development was the most frequently used term encompassing a range of understandings and practices. Many papers focused on educators' enhanced understanding of teaching, learning, and assessment. Several highlighted the social context of collaborative practice and organisational learning. FD formats included workshops, courses, longitudinal programs, and coaching and mentoring. Dominant conceptual frameworks included Kirkpatrick's model of evaluation, communities of practice theory, adult learning theory, and experiential learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Although FD continues to evolve in response to the dynamic HPE landscape, this growth needs to be accelerated. To facilitate meaningful collaboration across professions, contexts, and countries, attention must be paid to terms used and meanings ascribed to them. Those responsible for FD need to think anew about its purpose and practice, demonstrating flexibility as the ever-changing context demands.

Effect of an Educational Video Miniseries on Interprofessional Preceptor Development

OBJECTIVE

Experiential rotation preceptors may lack confidence in instructing interprofessional learners. This study examined the effect of a 12-episode, professionally produced video miniseries on attitudinal, satisfaction, and confidence outcomes in a cohort of interprofessional preceptors comprising pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and other allied health professionals.

METHODS

An invitation to view the miniseries was distributed to all health science preceptors within 1 large, public health science university. Participants were asked survey questions addressing their attitudes toward the miniseries, their comfort in precepting, and their satisfaction with the miniseries.

RESULTS

A total of 61 interprofessional preceptors enrolled in the study, with 33 completing the entire miniseries. Participants displayed highly positive attitudes toward the miniseries. In addition, members of all professions enrolled demonstrated an increase in precepting confidence after viewing the miniseries episodes (2.31 vs 2.7 on a 3-point Likert scale). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that preceptors with>10 years of professional experience displayed less positive attitudes toward the miniseries than those with 2-10 years of professional experience.

CONCLUSION

The miniseries model proved effective as a preceptor development strategy for a group of health professional preceptors. Given the diversity of learners, a collection of training options that allows preceptor self-selection of programming may be beneficial.

Determining the impact of an interprofessional learning in practice model on learners and patients

The Institute of Medicine recently expressed a need to measure the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on health professions collaborative behavior in practice environments and patient outcomes, and the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has focused research efforts to connect interprofessional practice and education. We describe a model intentionally designed to link interprofessional practice experience in ambulatory care setting and an IPE curriculum for students, called the Interprofessional Learning in Practice (ILIP) model. The study objective was to determine the impact of the ILIP model on student and patient outcomes during a 24-month intervention period. Student satisfaction was collected through a brief survey administered post-ILIP model. Patient outcomes were collected from before and after the intervention period through a retrospective chart review of patients who received care through the ILIP model. For the study, disease indicators for the top three chronic diagnoses of depression, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus were chosen as the patient outcomes. Student outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test. Patient outcomes were analyzed using McNemar's test and paired t-tests. Of the 382 students who participated in the ILIP model during the study period, 179 completed surveys, indicating that they valued the experience, valued learning from interprofessional preceptors, and gained interprofessional skills to use in their future practice. During the 24-month intervention, 401 patients were evaluated post-ILIP model, statistically significant results demonstrated HbA1c values for patients with diabetes were reduced by 0.5% and depression screening improved from 9% to 91%. Additionally, patients' hypertension control was similar to baseline and diabetes control (as defined as HbA1c ≤8%) was improved compared to baseline but did not reach statistical significance. By aligning interprofessional practice and education in the ILIP model, students had a positive experience, gained interprofessional collaboration skills, and provided value-added benefits to improve patient outcomes.

Training the trainers: A preceptor development program targeting interprofessional collaboration competencies

INTRODUCTION

Faculty and preceptor development have been noted to be areas of need within the expansion of interprofessional education (IPE). The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the impact of a preceptor development program on pharmacy preceptors' self-reported competence toward interprofessional collaboration.

METHODS

Pharmacy preceptors were invited to participate in a two-hour preceptor development program followed by a brief survey. Preceptor development program objectives were to: define IPE and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP); describe the benefits of IPCP for patients/clients, healthcare providers, and health systems; discuss the four Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies; and describe IPE student experiences aimed at increasing collaborative practice. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS) was administered after the preceptor development program. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the data and paired t-tests were used to analyze pre-/post-program scores.

RESULTS

Thirty (35%) preceptors completed the survey. Mean scores for all twenty items in the ICCAS instrument increased from pre- to post-(p < 0.05). The mean total ICCAS score pre- was 5.28 ± 1.12 and post- was 6.17 ± 1.11 (p < 0.01) out of a possible total score of seven.

CONCLUSIONS

A preceptor development program targeting IPE and IPCP increased pharmacy preceptors' self-reported competence toward interprofessional collaboration.