JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Background:

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines IPE as a process in which students from different healthcare programs work together to provide effective care while deepening their knowledge of each other’s roles. Previous literature shows a strong argument for early exposure to IPE as a facilitator for quality patient care. The goal of IPE is improved interprofessional collaboration (IPC), which is considered the "gold standard" of care, especially for patients who require expertise from a variety of healthcare professionals. IPC has shown improvements in quality of life, functional ability, and health status. IPE can occur in the form of structured interventions or spontaneously in student placements. Literature has demonstrated that IPE facilitates skill, knowledge development, teamwork, communication skills, and mutual respect among healthcare professional students.

Objective:

Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review is to examine outcomes of IPE including student readiness for IPC, perceptions of IPE, attitudes toward collaborative learning, student confidence, practice efficiency, and team dynamics after IPE interventions.

Methods:

Methods:

The study will be conducted as outlined by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and will be reported per the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2015 guidelines. Students have performed the literature search across the databases MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science, and AMED. Studies will be included if they perform an intervention with multiple healthcare profession pre-licensure students in a healthcare or healthcare education setting. Based on timelines presented in the Institute of Medicine’s report on the impacts of IPE, relevant studies from 2016 to the present will be included. The Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool will be used to study sources of bias. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) will be used to evaluate the quality of the evidence presented. The final three authors are assisting as supervisors, providing oversight and feedback as needed. The protocol has been registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO): CRD42024506081. Any deviations from this protocol will be reported in the final manuscript.

Results:

Results:

The project started on November 14th, 2023. The topic and research questions were refined in early 2024. The search strategy was finalized March 1st, 2024. The systematic review was registered with PROSPERO on March 31st, 2024. Abstract screening, full text screening, data extraction, and drafting of the manuscript will occur from March 2024 to August 2024, with expected publication in late 2024.

Conclusions:

Conclusion: This systematic review will provide a summary of the effects of interprofessional education interventions in pre-licensure rehabilitation science learners. It will provide educators, healthcare providers, and students with valuable information for understanding the relevance of IPE. It will also shed light on research gaps and highlight areas for further study. Clinical Trial: Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024506081 https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024506081