Effect of Intraprofessional Practice in a Multidisciplinary Clinic During Integrated Clinical Experiences on Student Physical Therapists’ Competencies In, and Perceptions Of, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice

The inclusion of interprofessional education (IPE) in health professions education, and focus on the IPEC core competencies , can be attributed to their contribution toward reduction in medical error and improvement in healthcare quality and the patient experience. The impact of exposure to interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) during integrated clinical experiences (ICE) on student physical therapists’ (SPT) competencies and perceptions of IPCP has been studied, but does participation in intraprofessional practice within a multidisciplinary clinic affect the level of impact?

SPTs from consecutive cohorts participated in intraprofessional ICE sessions in a multidisciplinary clinic, with students in Group 1 (n=23) completing four, 2-hour intraprofessional sessions while Group 2 (n=20) completed two. Both groups also completed one, 2-hour IPCP session with an RN or OT. Course outcomes were measured using the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale-9 (ISVS-9) as a retrospective pre-/post-test immediately following the IPCP session and the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) collected at course end.

Subjects with complete data sets were analyzed (Group 1: n=14; Group 2: n=16). Outliers causing negative skew were removed from further analyses. A paired t-test of ISVS-9 data demonstrated increases from pre- and post-test in Group 1 (t (-3.406), p=.005) and decreases in Group 2 (t (3.125), p=0.007). With Levene’s assumption upheld (p=0.303), an independent t-test indicated that the average difference in Group 1 (-0.521, SE=0.153) was significantly less than in Group 2 (0.520, SE=0.167; t (-4.514, p < 0.001)). However, it must be noted that Group 1’s ISVS-9 scores significantly increased while Group 2 significantly decreased.

A paired t-test of the ICCAS data demonstrated increases from pre- and post-test in Group 1 (t (-5.047), p < 0.001) and Group 2 (t (-3.125), p=0.007). Levene’s assumption was upheld (p=0.280). An independent t-test indicated that the average difference in Group 1 (-1.344, SE=0.267) was significantly greater than in Group 2 (-0.9950, SE=0.319; t (-4.089, p < 0.001)).

The volume of exposure to intraprofessional practice in a multidisciplinary clinic during ICEs impacts SPTs’ competencies and perceptions of IPCP.

Revisions intended to streamline the course curriculum inadvertently altered SPTs’ progress toward the IPEC competencies and should be revisited.