Health Professions Students’ Reflections About Principles of Interprofessional Collaboration after Shadowing Interprofessional Palliative Care Rounds

Future healthcare professionals are educated on collaborative practice methods through interventions that may include shadowing. While shadowing allows students to learn <i>from</i> and <i>about</i> other health professions, it often fails to offer an opportunity for the student to work and collaborate <i>with</i> other health professionals. This study sought to investigate themes regarding interprofessional students' experiences during a palliative care shadowing activity and their understanding of collaborative patient-centered care, social determinants of health, and health disparities. Twenty-eight students representing 13 health professions from the Interprofessional Palliative Care program at Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Thomas Jefferson University submitted reflection essays at the conclusion of their shadowing experience. Four hundred ninety-eight sentences from 28 essays were analyzed via qualitative directed content analysis. Coding categories were determined a priori using definitions of collaborative practice from the 2023 Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competencies and definitions of social determinants of health from Healthy People 2030. Thirty-two percent of sentences described IPEC competencies, 18% described social determinants of health/ health disparities, 4% included student emotional reactions, and 2% included student descriptions of the development of their professional role. These results suggest that shadowing offers an opportunity to identify and learn interprofessional competencies in interprofessional palliative care curricula, as made evident through student reflection assignments.