Medical Students Views About Inter-Professional Clinical Skills Sessions for Delivering Inter-Professional Education

Objective: The need to improve inter-professional collaborative working to increase patient safety is now well recognized. This has led to inter-professional education (IPE) becoming a familiar component of medical education in the United Kingdom. Advocates of IPE are encouraged to evaluate their initiatives and share findings to contribute to the evolving evidence base for delivering effective and innovative IPE. Norwich Medical School (NMS) has developed a form of IPE focused on clinical skills, which involves students from different healthcare professions working in partnership. This paper describes the sessions and presents evaluation findings from the medical students. Methods: Medical students’ views about engaging in inter-professional clinical skills sessions (ICS) with students from pharmacy, nursing or paramedic science were analyzed using data from 1030 end of year course evaluations completed between 2013-2017. Year 4 and 5 medical students from a five year undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree course in the UK participated in the study. Results: Medical students commented on the ICS format being engaging and useful; with clinically authentic OSCE style simulations being relevant for both upcoming clinical exams and future clinical practice. It was also preferred to classroom based IPE activities the students had undertaken in earlier years of the course. ICS was regarded as an effective way of learning about their role and responsibilities, those of other healthcare professions, and how different professions complement each other. Medical students felt that ICS helped develop their inter-professional team working skills and it was regarded as a highly satisfactory activity. Conclusion: The findings suggested that ICS was effectively contributing to the development of inter-professional collaborative working skills in medical students. Furthermore, the ICS was enabling the medical students to practice safe delivery of care in their roles as a doctor in collaboration with other members of a multi-disciplinary team.