Preparing Future Healthcare Professionals to Help Smokers Quit: A Mixed-Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Smoking Cessation Counseling Curriculum in Hong Kong

Abstract Background Smoking cessation counseling (SCC) is an important competency for future health professionals. Interprofessional education (IPE) may strengthen readiness for collaborative practice, but its additional benefit within short-format SCC curricula remains uncertain. This study evaluated a structured SCC curriculum delivered in interprofessional MBBS−BPharm and uniprofessional MBBS−only formats. Methods This mixed-methods, quasi-experimental pre–post study included undergraduate medical and pharmacy students in the IPE cohort and medical students in the control cohort. Both cohorts received the same core SCC content and learning activities. SCC-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice confidence were assessed using a course-aligned measure adapted from an existing knowledge, attitudes, and practice questionnaire. Perceived collaboration-related competence was assessed using the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS). Pre–post changes were examined among respondents with paired data. Post-tutorial ICCAS scores were compared between cohorts using analysis of covariance adjusted for baseline ICCAS. A focus group with five tutors contextualized the quantitative findings. Results The analytic sample included 213 students in the IPE cohort and 168 in the control cohort. The composite SCC-related outcome score increased by 0.35 standardized units (95% CI, 0.29 to 0.41; p < 0.001), with improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and practice confidence. ICCAS scores increased by 12.17 points (95% CI, 10.88 to 13.46; p < 0.001). Baseline-adjusted post-tutorial ICCAS scores did not differ significantly between the IPE and control cohorts (adjusted mean difference, 0.32 points; 95% CI, − 1.87 to 2.52; p = 0.772), and sensitivity analyses yielded consistent findings. Tutors perceived limited professional-role awareness, unequal representation of the two disciplines, and unfamiliarity among students as barriers to interprofessional interaction. Tutors nevertheless valued the experiential activities and supported further development of SCC-focused IPE. Conclusions The structured SCC curriculum was associated with immediate pre–post improvements in course-aligned SCC outcomes and perceived collaboration-related competence. Mixed MBBS–BPharm delivery was not associated with additional measurable ICCAS benefit compared with MBBS−only delivery. Tutor focus-group findings suggest that IPE-specific benefit may depend on clearer role differentiation, balanced and sustained interprofessional participation, and tasks requiring interdependent contributions from both disciplines.