Pre-Clinical Medical Student Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Practice

Hypothesis: (1) Brief exposure to Interprofessional Practice (IP) curriculum will improve student attitudes about working within a medical team model of care. Objectives: The IP curriculum was created to capitalize on the expertise from multiple healthcare professionals working together to enhance patients’ quality of care, resolve safety issues, and improve prognostic outcomes [1]. The integrated model of care is especially relevant to the osteopathic philosophy of holistic medical practice. Thus, students who are exposed to IP curriculum should have a better understanding about the importance of providing patient care within an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. First, a longitudinal, paired comparison study of pre-clinical medical students who matriculated in July, 2012 and had received at least one formal course of IP education was designed to measure pre- and post-course attitudes about interprofessional healthcare. A larger cross-sectional study was conducted to examine potential relationships among attitude response items from pre-clinical medical students who matriculated in 2010 - 2014. Materials and Methods: Pre- and post-course attitudes were measured with the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams (ATHCT) Scale, a 21-item validated tool [2]. Comparisons were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA with semester entered as a grouping variable. A correlation matrix was used to examine attitude response item relationships in the cross-sectional analyses. A 95% confidence interval and a probability of >0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 190 students completed the ATHCT in both the pre- and post-course conditions. Out of 21 response items, 10 showed no significant improvement in attitudes such as team care results in more complications (item #1, p = 0.29), team care results in holistic patient care (item #5, p = 0.44), increased satisfaction (item #8, p = 0.28), or patient needs are better met (item #20, p = 0.15). Conclusions: Although pre-clinical medical students were exposed to various interprofessional team experiences (community service, preceptorship) and at least one formal IP class session, these data show some resistance and misunderstanding about the importance of the team model of care. More IP coursework exposure and clinical faculty teaching by example in the clinic may help strengthen the team model of care.