https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0176-4876
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Abstract
Background
While interprofessional (IP) competency and Interprofessional Education (IPE) has received increasing attention in health, agreement on specific competencies and teaching approaches is frequently limited by profession-specific understandings. As part of a quality improvement initiative focused on improving delivery of IPE offerings, this enquiry maps current regulatory and curricula requirements for IP practice to health professional students from 12 professions trained across Aotearoa New Zealand’s national vocational education provider.
Methods
Requirements for IP competency in national accreditation documents and in an operative teaching curricula were mapped for 12 professions, namely, clinical exercise physiology, counselling, massage, medical radiology, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, osteopathy, paramedicine, physiotherapy, social work, and sport and exercise science. A desk audit was conducted to identify the presence of core IP competencies for each profession. This involved a four-step process 1) Examination of regulatory standards for each profession to confirm IP requirements for each profession; 2) Examination of an operative curricula from each profession to identify the presence and translation of IP regulatory requirements to each of the profession-specific programs of study; 3) Mapping to identify within domains the core (common) IP competencies across the professions, and 4) Consideration of the similarities and differences between accreditation documents and curricula.
Results
Of 12 professions, 10 clearly identified IP competency as an expectation. Clinical Exercise Physiology and Counselling were exceptions with explicit requirement for IP competency not evident. Coordination and collaboration were the most identified competency domains in accreditation documents and curricula. In descending order of prevalence, communication, shared values, reflexivity, role-understanding, and teamwork were also identified requirements amongst the 10 professions with IP competency requirements.
Conclusion
The IP competencies identified as common across professions can be used to inform development of teaching and assessment. Greater alignment between teaching curricula and required competency standards in this area is recommended.
Ethical Approval
As a quality improvement desk audit our study did not require ethical board approval as human or animal participants were not involved. All regulatory data used for audit were publicly available and all curricula were accessed with organizational consent, the audit of which did not involve human participation.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr Angela Beaton and Lauren Bennett (Te Pūkenga) for their assistance obtaining course curricula from across the Te Pūkenga network.
Author Contributions
All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.