Curricular Factors that Unintentionally Affect Learning in a Community-Based Interprofessional Education Program: The Student Perspective

Background: The Dalhousie Health Mentors Program (DHMP) is a community-based, pre-licensure interprofessional education initiative that aims to prepare health professional students for collaborative practice in the care of patients with chronic conditions. This program evaluation explores the students’ 1) learning and plans to incorporate skills into future practice; 2) ratings of program content, delivery, and assignments; 3) perspectives of curricular factors that inadvertently acted as barriers to learning; and 4) program improvement suggestions.Methods: All students (N = 745) from the 16 participating health programs were invited to complete an online mixed methods program evaluation survey at the conclusion of the 2012–2013 DHMP. A total of 295 students (40% response rate) responded to the Likert-type questions analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Of these students, 204 (69%) provided responses to 10 open-ended questions, which were analyzed thematically.Findings: While the majority of respondents agreed that they achieved the DHMP learning objectives, the mixed-methods approach identified curriculum integration, team composition, and effectiveness of learning assignments as factors that unintentionally acted as barriers to learning, with three key student recommendations for program improvement.Conclusions: Educators and program planners need to be aware that even well-intended learning activities may result in unintended experiences that hamper interprofessional learning

Distributed Medical Education (DME) in psychiatry: perspectives on facilitators, obstacles, and factors affecting psychiatrists' willingness to engage in teaching activities

Abstract Background Distributed Medical Education (DME), a decentralized model focused on smaller cities and communities, has been implemented worldwide to bridge the gap in psychiatric education. Faculty engagement in teaching activities such as clinical teaching, supervision, and examinations is a crucial aspect of DME sites. Implementing or expanding DME sites requires careful consideration to identify enablers that contribute to success and barriers that need to be addressed. This study aims to examine enablers, barriers, and factors influencing psychiatrists' willingness to start or continue participating in teaching activities within Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine DME sites in two provinces in Atlantic Canada. Methodology This cross-sectional study was conducted as part of an environmental scan of Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine’s DME programs in Nova Scotia (NS) and New Brunswick (NB), Canada. In February 2023, psychiatrists from seven administrative health zones in these provinces anonymously participated in an online survey. The survey, created with OPINIO, collected data on sociodemographic factors, practice-related characteristics, medical education, and barriers to teaching activities. Five key outcomes were assessed, which included psychiatrists' willingness to engage in (i) clinical training and supervision, (ii) lectures or skills-based teaching, (iii) skills-based examinations, (iv) training and supervision of Canadian-trained psychiatrists, and (v) training and supervision of internationally trained psychiatrists. The study employed various statistical analyses, including descriptive analysis, chi-square tests, and logistic regression, to identify potential predictors associated with each outcome variable. Results The study involved 60 psychiatrists, primarily male (69%), practicing in NS (53.3%), with international medical education (69%), mainly working in outpatient services (41%). Notably, 60.3% lacked formal medical education training, yet they did not perceive the lack of training as a significant barrier, but lack of protected time as the main one. Despite this, there was a strong willingness to engage in teaching activities, with an average positive response rate of 81.98%. The lack of protected time for teaching/training was a major barrier reported by study participants. Availability to take the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Competency by Design training was the main factor associated with psychiatrists' willingness to participate in the five teaching activities investigated in this study: willingness to participate in clinical training and supervision of psychiatry residents (p = .01); provision of lectures or skills-based teaching for psychiatry residents (p < .01); skills-based examinations of psychiatry residents (p < .001); training/supervision of Canadian-trained psychiatrists (p < .01); and training and supervision of internationally trained psychiatrists (p < .01). Conclusion The study reveals a nuanced picture regarding psychiatrists' engagement in teaching activities at DME sites. Despite a significant association between interest in formal medical education training and willingness to participate in teaching activities, clinicians do not consider the lack of formal training as a barrier. Addressing this complexity requires thoughtful strategies, potentially involving resource allocation, policy modifications, and adjustments to incentive structures by relevant institutions

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