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Pharmacy Practice

(167) Longitudinal Assessment of Pharmacy Students’ Perceptions Towards Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Abilities

    Primary Author(s)

  • Nicholas M. Fusco, Pharm.D.

    Clinical Associate Professor; Division Head, Division of Education and Teaching Innovation
    University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
    Buffalo, New York, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AW

    Ashley Woodruff, PharmD

    Clinical Associate Professor
    University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
    Buffalo, NY, United States

  • YZ

    Yichen Zhao

    Researcher
    University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, United States

  • JM

    Jaime Maerten-Rivera, PhD

    Director of Assessment
    University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
    Buffalo, New York, United States

Objective : Interprofessional education (IPE) varies across schools/colleges of pharmacy. Long-term impact of IPE remains uncertain despite available data on singular experiences. Our hypothesis was there were no changes in students' interprofessional (IP) collaborative behaviors over time. This study aimed to assess changes in pharmacy students' ability to demonstrate collaborative behaviors over ten months.

Methods: Students completed the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Scale - Revised (ICCAS-R) after two large-scale IP forums that occurred ten months apart. During each forum, students worked with 6-7 students of other health professions programs and a faculty facilitator to discuss patient/population health needs, while considering cultural and structural factors. The ICCAS-R is a 20-item self-assessment tool that uses a five-point Likert scale to measure IP collaborative behaviors. Scores are reported as a total mean score for all items and the ICCAS-R is administered as a retrospective pre/post-experience instrument. Using repeated-measures analysis of variance, four total mean scores (T1=pre1, T2=post1, T3=pre2, T4=post2) were compared.

Results: Four cohorts (N=414) completed the IP forums and 336 (81%) completed the ICCAS-R instrument and were included. Total mean scores (T1=3.5 [0.7], T2=4.0 [0.7], T3=3.6 [0.7] and T4=4.0 [0.7]) were significantly different. Total mean scores increased T1 to T2 and T3 to T4, indicating an increase in self-assessed abilities pre/post-IP forum. Total mean scores decreased between T2 and T3, indicating that self-assessed abilities decreased during the 10-month period between IP forums.

Conclusions: While students' self-assessed abilities to demonstrate IP competencies increased around the time of the IP forum experiences, these changes were not sustained and decreased over time. These findings suggest that IP competencies should be reinforced at multiple time points to ensure enduring effects in students.