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A program design for full integration and assessment of clinically relevant interprofessional education into the clinical/clerkship year for nursing and medical students

Interprofessional education (IPE) seeks to provide students with the competencies necessary for safe and effective teambased care of patients. However, many IPE experiences are delivered outside of the core curricular objectives for medical and nursing students. This may contribute to the perception that IPE competencies are less valuable than uniprofessional skills; that they are “nice” but not central to student learning. Students must understand that the intraprofessional skills necessary for the kinds of care we deliver cannot be separated from the interprofessional skills necessary to deliver that care effectively. Furthermore, the interprofessional knowledge, behaviors and attitudes needed vary depending on the illness experience, patient population and care setting; therefore, IPE competencies should be learned in their clinical context. To achieve the desired effect of moving IPE from the periphery to a central part of student education, it is necessary to integrate IPE throughout all aspects of the educational environment (Ho et al., 2008), and new educational models must be designed to bridge the gap between IPE and interprofessional practice. Simulation provides an effective setting in which to learn the competencies of collaborative practice without the possibility of placing a live patient at risk (e.g. Robertson & Bandali, 2008; Reese, Jeffries, & Engum, 2010). Simulation also provides the opportunity to identify measurable collaborative skills and to employ observational assessment tools that assess student competencies. Objective structured clinical examinations using simulation are being adopted for many skills, yet few institutions have attempted to use them to longitudinally assess student competencies for interprofessional teamwork (Simmons et al., 2011). Starting in January 2012 and with support from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, the University of Virginia (UVA) will begin a comprehensive program of implementing and assessing clinically relevant simulated IPE experiences that are fully integrated into the clerkship/clinical year for medical and nursing students.