Design and Evaluation of Interprofessional Training Program for Healthcare Students from Collectivistic Culture

Sonika Raj; Dervla Kelly; MuizzI Siddig; Pranjali Muppidi; Chris O'Connor; Helena Mckeague; Mark Dixon; Mastour S Alshahrani; Amani Alhazmi; Khalifa Elmusharaf

doi:10.1007/s40670-022-01536-7

Design and Evaluation of Interprofessional Training Program for Healthcare Students from Collectivistic Culture

Med Sci Educ. 2022 Mar 26;32(2):447-455. doi: 10.1007/s40670-022-01536-7. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Sonika Raj^{1

2}, Dervla Kelly^{1

3

2}, MuizzI Siddig¹, Pranjali Muppidi³, Chris O'Connor¹, Helena Mckeague³, Mark Dixon³, Mastour S Alshahrani⁴, Amani Alhazmi⁴, Khalifa Elmusharaf^{1

3

2}

Affiliations

¹ Public Health Master Programme, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
² Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
³ School of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
⁴ King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Healthcare is team-based, and with increased mobility of healthcare workers, most of them will work with team members from all over the globe. Interprofessional education (IPE) research has mostly focused on specially designed programs in academic health institutions to prepare students for multidisciplinary work. Few IPE programs aim to integrate students with mixed disciplines from collectivist cultures.

Methods: This mixed-methods study was conducted between June and August 2019. Surveys and an e-portfolio were recorded of 33 final-year and graduated health professional students' participation in an 8-week IPE summer program at a medical school in Ireland. Survey results are described, and the content of portfolios was analyzed based on the deductive analysis of qualitative data derived from questions.

Results: Students reported the greatest improvement in presentation skills (63.6%), followed by communication (54.5%), team working skills (93.9%), and interprofessional learning (42.4%), respectively. Qualitative findings highlighted challenges for students from a collectivist culture adapting to an IPE: uncomfortable verbally expressing themselves in problem-based learning (PBL) and how to work with other sex. Positive themes about IPE that emerged were enjoyment in sharing ideas and building trust with PBL groups. We learned that the program had to be flexible enough to meet the educational requirements of a target community with mixed English language ability and adaptability to IPE.

Conclusion: The authors propose that an international PBL-based summer program is effective in improving healthcare students' attitudes towards IPE. This study provides valuable insights to facilitate the development of further IPE programs to increased collaboration between students across various healthcare disciplines.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01536-7.

Keywords: Collectivistic culture; Healthcare students; Interprofessional education; Multidisciplinary learning.