Background and purpose: To determine how participation in multidisciplinary training workshops and student-run clinics impacts students' perceptions of the role of other health professions. Student perceptions from pharmacy-only versus multidisciplinary smoking cessation clinics were also compared.
Education activity and setting: Students from pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, physician assistant, and clinical psychology programs participated in two multidisciplinary smoking cessation training sessions, then provided smoking cessation services to the underserved population in either a multidisciplinary or pharmacy-only student-run smoking cessation clinic. Students completed a survey regarding the roles of other healthcare professionals prior to the workshops, after the workshops, and after the smoking cessation clinic.
Findings: Fifty-six students attended both smoking cessation training sessions and showed statistically significant increases in familiarity and confidence related to smoking cessation after the training workshops. Forty-two students participated in the ten smoking cessations clinics, which included six multidisciplinary clinics and four pharmacy-only clinics. A statistically significant improvement was seen between the pre-workshop survey and post-clinic survey regarding the students' perception of the roles of other healthcare providers in a smoking cessation clinic. Students who participated within the multidisciplinary smoking cessation clinics experienced a significantly greater impact on their perceptions of other healthcare providers than students who participated in the pharmacy-only clinics.
Summary: Student participation in a student-run free clinic is an effective method to increase role awareness of other health professional students in an underserved setting.
Keywords: Interprofessional; Multidisciplinary; Smoking cessation; Student-run clinics; Underserved.
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