Facilitator training program: The Université Laval Interprofessional Initiative

ABSTRACT

A facilitator training program (FTP) for interprofessional learning (IPL) facilitators has been developed at Université Laval. This article describes the impacts of this program as perceived by the 22 IPL facilitators involved and outlines recommendations. Two qualitative data collection strategies were used to document the facilitators’ pedagogical needs and views of the program’s impacts. Results suggest that the FTP’s pedagogical approach was effective. The IPL facilitators became more aware of their challenges and identified concrete strategies to use. Training initiatives should equip IPL facilitators to cope with uncertainty, create a climate supporting active learning, and facilitate positive interactions between students.

KEYWORDS:

• Facilitation
• interprofessional collaboration
• interprofessional education
• interprofessional learning

Notes

^1. The Team Objective Structured Clinical Examination (TOSCE) is a type of assessment where a team of 8–10 students hold an interdisciplinary meeting. They have 12 minutes to read a complex case of a patient admitted to emergency and 20 minutes to meet to determine a priority problem and two common objectives. The facilitators are given an evaluation grid to rate the quality of the interactions in the team and the students’ ability to follow the steps in the structured process for the proposed interdisciplinary intervention plan.

^2. This sample was made up of 10 new facilitators who registered for the program in 2014, and 12 experienced facilitators who joined the group in 2014 to do module 4. The aim was to enable the new facilitators to learn from the experience of the experienced facilitators and to nurture the feeling of belonging in the team of facilitators.