Engaging students to co-design and deliver a program to support the development of interprofessional practice

Preparedness of health graduates to engage in interprofessional practice (IPP), is essential to a patient-responsive, effective and efficient healthcare system. Whilst interprofessional education (IPE) is seen as foundational to IPP, best practice in its development and implementation in undergraduate programs remains ambiguous1. Collaboration between medicine and paramedicine undergraduates are uncommon2. The reasons are many but are centred around curriculum, time and space constraints. Blended learning may present a solution to these constraints and provide a neutral ground for students to engage with learning without the overlay of hierarchical power dynamics that may be present in work-based settings3. Our project investigates the impact of a co-designed, blended IPE learning activity on the attitudes of medicine and paramedicine students towards interprofessional practice. Twelve volunteer students partnered with faculty members to create and deliver a weeklong blended learning experience. This presentation describes the first part of a University of Notre Dame (School of Medicine) and University of Tasmania’s (Faculty of Paramedicine) collaboration and engaging students as co-designers and facilitators to deliver a quality, research-informed blended IPE learning activity. Data is currently being collected and analysed to measure whether there is a shift in attitudes using validated scales and focus groups. As essential stakeholders in IPE, students can be engaged as co-creators in planning and facilitation of IPE, developing skills in in peer- teaching, building future capacity for skilled facilitator workforce and providing opportunity to experience collaborative leadership practises in action. Recording References 1Abu-Rish E., et al. (2012). Current trends in interprofessional education of health sciences students: A literature review. Journal of interprofessional care, 26(6):444-451. 2Hallikainen, J., et al. (2007). Interprofessional education of medical students and paramedics in emergency medicine. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, 51(3), 372-377. 3Reeves S., et al. (2016). A BEME systematic review of the effects of interprofessional education: BEME Guide No. 39. Medical teacher, 38(7):656-668