Interprofessional Educational Opportunities and Medical Students’ Understanding of the Collaborative Care of Patients

Interest in promoting interprofessional education (IPE) in U.S. medical and other health professions schools is not new, but has received a renewed attention over the past several years. Further, the focus on improving the health care system by providing higher-quality, low-cost care has intensified the need for providing care through interdisciplinary teams. This Analysis in Brief examines medical students’ reports of curricula-based IPE opportunities in their training. Results show that over two-thirds of respondents reported having had curricular-based opportunities to learn with students from different health professions. The findings of this study also suggest that medical students who learn alongside students from a greater number of other health professions also report having 1) a better understanding of collaborative, interprofessional care of patients, and 2) significantly higher levels of overall satisfaction with their medical training. These observed relationships do not imply causality; rather, they indicate that a greater diversity of IPE opportunities is associated with other educational and curricular experiences that enhance students’ understanding of interprofessional care and increase overall satisfaction with medical training.

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