Interprofessional Education Yields Increased Confidence And Understanding Of Eye Examination Procedures

Purpose/Objective To understand the learning outcomes and student perception of interprofessional learning (IPL) within a teaching workshop environment. Background/Rationale IPL during healthcare training serves a beneficial role in the future delivery of medical services and the interaction with other healthcare disciplines. Through IPL activities, healthcare students develop a mutual understanding for other medical services, enhances interdisciplinary communication, reduces barriers, and promotes professional competencies.1,2 By intervening with IPL interactions during healthcare training, interprofessional practices may be instilled and utilized in future patient care.3,4 This is supported by qualitative studies that demonstrate improved patient outcomes and experience from effective interdisciplinary collaboration.5 Therefore, integrating this knowledge during healthcare training can embed a shared understanding of each healthcare members’ role and encourage collaborative efforts for best clinical practices.6 Methods/Methodology The study consisted of second-year medical students completing an anonymous pre-assessment ten-question survey regarding their perceived confidence in performing visual and ocular clinical skills and their perception on IPL. The students then participated in a two-hour workshop where they completed hands-on learning of eye examination techniques and completed an 18-minute case discussion on common eye care findings in a primary care setting. Following, the students repeated the survey in order to measure any change outcome in perceived confidence and perception on IPL. Results/Findings The survey results demonstrated a positive statistical difference in the medical students' confidence and understanding of performing the clinical skills following the two-hour workshop. There was also a positive statistical difference in the understanding of the role of an optometrist in healthcare. In regards to the perception on IPL, there was no statistical difference between the pre- and post-survey analysis. Overall, the students perceived IPL and learning from other healthcare providers as beneficial before and after the workshop. Conclusions IPL can serve a beneficial role in medical and healthcare training. This study illustrates that this type of IPL can yield increased confidence and understanding of eye examination procedures in medical school training. Interprofessional Implications This study provides an example of positive perceived outcomes on IPL and the benefit of interdisciplinary interaction during healthcare training. References (AMA, APA, MLA) 1. Houldsworth, A. (2018). Conscious Competence in Interprofessional Learning in Health Education. MedEdPublish. 7(1):39. 2. Guraya, S., & Barr, H. (2018). The Effectiveness of Interprofessional Education in Healthcare: A systemic review and meta-analysis. Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences. 34(3):160-165. 3. Soubra, L., Badr, S., Zharan, E., et al. (2018). Effect of Interprofessional Education on Role Clarification and Patient Care Planning by Health Professional Students. Health Professions Education. 4(4): 317-328. 4. Choudhury, RI, Salam, MA, Mathur, J., et al. (2020). How interprofessional education could benefit the future of healthcare – medical students’ perspective. BMC Med Educ. 20(242). 5. Baggs, J., Schmitt, MH, Mushlin, AI., et al. (1999). Association Between Nurse Physician Collaboration and Patient Outcomes in Three Intensive Care Units. Crit Care Med. 27:1991-1998. 6. Zechariah S., Ansa B., Johnson S., et al. (2019). Interprofessional Education and Collaboration in Healthcare: An Exploratory Study of the Perspectives of Medical Students in the United States. Healthcare, 7(17).