Creating a Collaborative Healthcare Environment: Early Exposure to Multidisciplinary Roles and Dynamics Through an Interprofessional Seminar Series for Undergraduate Healthcare Students

Introduction Interprofessional collaboration and communication among members of the healthcare team are fundamental in providing high-quality patient care. Students at healthcare education institutions are in a unique position to develop their understanding of the patient care team before entering the workplace. However, education among these different programs remains largely segregated. A lack of interprofessional education (IPE) is a missed opportunity to educate students on the functions of other professions and how to collaborate and communicate effectively within an interdisciplinary team. To address these gaps, a student-led team piloted a seminar series involving students and faculty of various health professions. Methods This study was conducted at a private health sciences university in Houston, Texas. Programs offered at this university included the following: doctor of medicine (MD), physician assistant (PA), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), genetic counseling, and orthotics and prosthetics (O&P). The seminar series included four optional one-hour to one-and-a-half-hour sessions consisting of three panel discussions and one small group session. Sessions featured speakers representing each of the participating programs and were guided by prepared questions to address the topic of the session, along with allotted time for student questions. The three panel session topics were as follows: The History and Development of the Interdisciplinary Team, Scope of Practice Panel Discussion, and A Day in the Life of the Professional. The small group session featured the following topic: Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Putting a Stop to Bullying. An optional survey was administered following each session. The Wilcoxon paired rank-sum test was used to compare responses on the retrospective survey items, while qualitative responses were analyzed using inductive coding methods, allowing patterns to be identified without predetermined categories. Results Eighty-five survey responses were received over the entire series. Quantitative analysis indicated significant increases in the self-reported understanding of the key measurement for each session (p<0.001-0.02) and improvement in their interdisciplinary communication skills (p<0.001). Qualitative feedback largely focused on an appreciation for the question-and-answer format of the sessions and the quality of the speakers. Conclusions This seminar series provided a valuable opportunity for students in different healthcare programs to gain exposure to realistic scenarios and actual experiences from panelists and learn about the roles of their future colleagues. Analysis showed significant increases in the perceived understanding of the other health professions following the series. Future endeavors include recreating the seminar series at this institution to gather additional data, studying past participants in the clinical setting to assess the practical impact of experiences gained through these sessions, and helping other institutions create similar educational programs.