Attitudes and Perception of Nursing, Medical, Pharmacy and Dental Students Towards Each Other’s Role Pre and Post the Jamaica Medical Mission Inter-Professional Collaboration

Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida, USA

Objective. This study was conducted to determine if inter-professional learning interactions influence the perception and attitudes of Nursing, Medical, Pharmacy and Dental Students towards each other’s role pre and post the Jamaica Medical Mission Inter-Professional Collaboration trip. Background. Although there has been an increase in inter-professional collaborative education programs in the United States, not all healthcare professionals are included (Navickis & Mathieson, 2016). Little is known about how healthcare students perceive and understand the role each play in providing excellent inter-professional teamwork and their attitude towards working together. Methods. The Inter-professional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) was administered to students from the four aforementioned healthcare professions prior to and after their collaborative involvement in providing health care services to individuals from the Jamaican community. Paired sample t test and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test were conducted using IBM SPSS V.26.1. Results. There was no significant difference between the participants’ overall pre-test score in comparison to their post-test score t(22) = 1.14, p = .269 for responsibilities, patient centeredness, diversity and ethics, and community centeredness. However, there was a significant difference between participants’ inter-professional bias before and after the inter-professional collaborative session. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test indicated that participants demonstrated less inter-professional bias after the trip Z = -2.07, p = 0.038. Conclusion. Students from the health professions have great attitudes toward their roles, responsibility, and patient centeredness regardless of their program of study. Nonetheless, these students could benefit from more collaborative engagements in order to reduce bias about students from other disciplines.