Purpose: This study investigated changes in students' attitudes using 2 validated interprofessional survey instruments-the Collaborative Healthcare Interdisciplinary Relationship Planning (CHIRP) instrument and the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS)-before and after didactic and clinical cohorts.
Methods: Students from 7 colleges/schools participated in didactic and clinical cohorts during the 2017-2018 year. Didactic cohorts experienced 2 interactive sessions 6 months apart, while clinical cohorts experienced 4 outpatient clinical sessions once monthly. For the baseline and post-cohort assessments, 865 students were randomly assigned to complete either the 14-item CHIRP or the 27-item IPAS. The Pittman test using permutations of linear ranks was used to determine differences in the score distribution between the baseline and post-cohort assessments. Pooled results were compared for the CHIRP total score and the IPAS total and subdomain scores. For each score, 3 comparisons were made simultaneously: overall baseline versus post-didactic cohort, overall baseline versus post-clinical cohort, and post-didactic cohort versus post-clinical cohort. Alpha was adjusted to 0.0167 to account for simultaneous comparisons.
Results: The baseline and post-cohort survey response rates were 62.4% and 65.9% for CHIRP and 58.7% and 58.1% for IPAS, respectively. The post-clinical cohort scores for the IPAS subdomain of teamwork, roles, and responsibilities were significantly higher than the baseline and post-didactic cohort scores. No differences were seen for the remaining IPAS subdomain scores or the CHIRP instrument total score.
Conclusion: The IPAS instrument may discern changes in student attitudes in the subdomain of teamwork, roles, and responsibilities following short-term clinical experiences involving diverse interprofessional team members.
Keywords: Academic medical centers; Ambulatory care; Attitude of health personnel; Health education; Interprofessional relations; United States.