Debunk the Junk: A Student-driven Interprofessional Event

Background:
The Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice (OIPEP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill established a Student Executive Committee (SEC) to engage students in interprofessional activities. The SEC is comprised of students from the health professional schools (Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Social Work), the Schools of Education, Business, and the Health Sciences Library. Debunk the Junk was the first SEC initiative an interprofessional, case-based event where participants addressed myths about their professions and leveraged their developing expertise while establishing roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice as outlined by the Interprofessional Core Collaborative (IPEC).

Design:
Students from Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Allied Health professions collaborated on a case from MedEd Portal. The Dental Foundation of North Carolina and OIPEP sponsored the event. Students and faculty were recruited through existing Interprofessional Education (IPE) interest groups at their respective schools. After the event, participants completed a survey evaluating their pre-post perceptions of IPE using the Nebraska Interprofessional Education Attitudes Scale (NIPEAS). The NIPEAS is a 19 item Likert Scale that measures students’ attitudes toward IPE using four themes. Quantitative data was analyzed using a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Qualitative data was coded to identify participant takeaways and suggestions for improvement.

Results:
Of the 71 attendees, 53 completed the survey (response rate = 75%). The average responses to the pre and post survey questions increased. There was a significant difference in responses in all but one question (p 0.05).

Conclusions:
Debunk the Junk was an innovative, student-led IPEP initiative that reinforced participants’ understanding of the importance of and desire for IPEP while clarifying the roles that different professionals play in a healthcare team.

Reflections:
Utilizing separate pre and post-surveys may have more accurately represented changes in participant attitudes. This event laid the groundwork for future student-led collaborative initiatives. In subsequent iterations, we hope to 1) have equal representation of the various professional schools 2) include business and education participants to further diversify perspective and expertise.