Feasibility, Acceptability, and Satisfaction of REDCap as a Tool for Interprofessional Education

Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important component of health science training. Ensuring all students have access to necessary information prior to, during, and following simulation-enhanced IPE (Sim-IPE) activities is imperative to ensure a beneficial learning environment and student engagement. Ensuring access to necessary materials can be difficult due to differences in educational resources between institutions. This manuscript will assess the feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction of using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) as an educational tool for a Sim-IPE activity. After a pilot Sim-IPE activity, data from student evaluations was reviewed. Updates were made including use of REDCap as a universally accessible web-application. In addition to data collection, REDCap served multiple purposes, including as a pre-activity learning module and assignment submission portal. Students and faculty were provided direct links to specific portions of REDCap project throughout the activity. Data collected during the following two years was reviewed. From the pilot in 2021 (n=76) to the activity in 2022 (n=220), a significant increase in mean score for students’ overall assessment of the Sim-IPE activity was found (9.8% increase from 2021; p<0.001). This increase was maintained in 2023 (n=113; 6.6% increase from 2021; p=0.003). Most students in 2022 and 2023 rated the REDCap learning module favorably. Students reported satisfaction with the REDCap module’s ability to support their learning. Faculty indicated satisfaction with the Sim-IPE activity and materials provided via REDCap. After feedback from the pilot activity, a comprehensive project was created in REDCap. Data suggests the REDCap learning module added to the students’ overall experience and provided necessary information to support their education. Using REDCap to deliver and monitor engagement with an educational curriculum is feasible and may serve as an acceptable and satisfactory format for health sciences IPE activities.