Given the natural collaborations occurring between health professionals in practice, the experiential environment offers an ideal opportunity for students to observe and develop in their interprofessional competencies in order to tackle real-world healthcare problems.
The Center for Interprofessional Health leadership team recently published a study on interprofessional students’ insights into the experiential learning environment, exploring what students value most, how experiential learning can be improved, and what ways students see interprofessional collaboration in practice impacting learners, provider teams, communities, and health systems.
Here’s what they found:
- Students perceived the greatest value of interprofessionality in the clinical learning environment as growing their own skills and actively engaging with other professionals and learners.
- Students value interactions with and observations of practicing health professionals, reinforcing just how essential role modeling is in preparing our future healthcare workforce. Moreover, rather than just merely observing, having a meaningful task or role in team-based activities is instrumental.
- Intentional and innovative efforts must be made by academic programs, interprofessional education programs, experiential placement sites, and health professions accreditors to make the impacts on care systems, cost of care, communities, and populations more explicit in the experiential learning environment.
There remain opportunities to learn from our students and shape IPE opportunities to meet their interests and also prepare them as a collaborative practice-ready workforce serving Minnesota and beyond. Please let us know what interprofessional insights you’d like to share.
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