gms | German Medical Science

Background: Vast research attention has been paid to providing evidence on undergraduate / pre-licensure health sciences students’ IP competency requirements, placement, and attainment. However, while IP facilitator training is critical to IP effectiveness for student outcomes, there remains insufficient research identifying the IP facilitator competencies required for effective IPE delivery.

Aim: We aimed to investigates students’ views of important attributes for IP facilitation using a cross-sectional observation-survey design.

Methods: Employing a cross-sectional design, 343 third-year undergraduate health professions' students were surveyed after completing a longitudinal IPE course (response rate 68%) from four health professions (nursing, midwifery, physical therapy, occupational therapy). After completing a semester-long IP education course, students completed a survey vis-à-vis rating the importance of IP facilitator competency with regard to 25 abilities, 12 teacher profiles, and ten characteristics

Results: In this short report, three analyses were conducted across three approaches for investigating student views of IPE teacher competencies. Firstly, factor-analytic findings supported a multifaceted view of IPE facilitator abilities. Secondly, inspection of the distributional variability for IPE facilitator roles indicated non-normality, suggestive of preferential ordering for IPE functional roles. Thirdly, paired-sample t-tests supported the contextual distinction of characteristics valued across uni-professional and IP facilitator settings.

Discussion: Our results generally accord with findings from a recent “train-the-trainer” programme, where greatest increases were observed for IPE facilitators on the dimensions of “IP leadership” and “team culture”. Specifically, we found Professional Bias to emerge as a primary factor of our 25 facilitator abilities. Furthermore, paired t-tests of facilitator characteristics indicated Technical Competence was less important and Organizational Preparation more important in an IP context (compared to a uni-professional setting). Finally, a variance comparison of our “good teacher” profiles with a normal distribution indicated asymmetry, implying prioritized preferences for particular IP facilitator profiles. In the current study, a Clear Lecturer profile was rated as being most-important and Curriculum Developer least-important for an IP teaching setting.

Take Home Messages: Facilitator competencies are a critical, but understudied aspect of IPE. Although training contexts will differ across institutions, this short report provides insight into the design of IP facilitator or train-the-trainer programmes. Our findings will stimulate further research on identifying pertinent facilitator competencies for enabling optimal preparation toward effective delivery of pre-licensure IPE.