Preparing rehabilitation healthcare providers in the 21st century:
Implementation of interprofessional education through an academic-clinical site
partnership
Affiliations: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of New
England, Portland, ME, USA | Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Michael Sheldon, University of New
England, Department of Physical Therapy, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103,
USA. Tel.: +1 207 221 4591; Fax: +1 207 523 1910; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: Health profession education programs often struggle with
barriers to implementing interprofesssional educational (IPE) initiatives,
limiting early and consistent exposure of students to core IPE competencies.
Few published reports are available to guide the implementation of IPE programs
into practice. This article describes a successful and evolving partnership
between an independent university and a tertiary care hospital. The IPE goals
of this partnership were to expose students to roles of other disciplines in
the complex hospital environment and integrate acute care exposure throughout
the Doctor of Physical Therapy and Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
curricula. Results: Faculty and students, patients and families, and
occupational and physical therapy clinicians participated in a series of
learning activities in an acute care setting involving interprofessional teams
of students. Activities included observations of OT and PT clinicians providing
standard patient care, practice conducting team patient interviews, and
interactive treatment planning sessions conducted live via videoconferencing
technology between a patient's hospital room and an academic classroom on the
university campus. The activities generally were designed to improve student
preparedness for working as part of an interprofessional team in an acute care
setting. Conclusions: Student and clinician feedback support the early
development of student IPE competencies, including the appreciation and
understanding of professional roles in the team approach to patient care and
the development of effective communication skills. The partnership between the
academic institution and tertiary care hospital is an effective vehicle to
deliver and sustain IPE educational initiatives in the acute care setting.
Current and planned IPE curriculum integration are discussed along with a
preliminary analysis of IPE outcomes.
