Readiness for Interprofessional Teamwork of Graduate Public Health Students at the Time of Their Graduation

The purpose of this applied study was to solve the problem of lacking empirical evidence for the contribution of interprofessional education (IPE) towards readiness for teamwork interprofessional practice (T-IPP) of Master of Public Health (MPH) graduates, and to design an IPE evaluation model in response. Current knowledge about T-IPP of MPH graduates is insufficient yet critical for professional practice. It is unclear how academic IPE builds MPH students’ T-IPP skills, and whether other training sources exist. A cross-sectional multimethod design was implemented with a sample of 58 MPH graduates from accredited programs within 12 months from graduation, of whom 12 were also interviewed. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Liberty University. Of all participants, 60.3% were from Georgia and 29.7% from other U.S. states. IPE exposure occurred in academic (41.4%) and non-academic settings (74.1%). Results indicated inconsistent IPE advertising across MPH programs, lack of understanding what IPE is, and low participation in academic IPE. Adult Learning Theory (Knowles, 1984) principles supplied meanings to how IPE-exposure built graduates’ IPP skills. IPE participants had significantly higher T-IPP scores compared to non-participants for both academic and non-academic IPE. Skill-level at entrance to graduate school and IPE were significantly associated with readiness for T-IPP at graduation. In response to issues raised in the literature about heterogeneity of designs and findings from this study, a model was proposed to support systematic IPE planning, implementation, and evaluation. The model supports optimization of IPE as well as planning other educational activities.