Changes in attitudes toward interprofessional health care teams and education in the first- and third-year undergraduate students

Abstract

The interprofessional education (IPE) program at Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan, implements a lecture style for the first-year students and a training style for the third-year students. Changes in the scores of modified Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (ATHCTS) and those of modified Readiness of health care students for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) at the beginning and the end of the term were evaluated in the 2008 academic year. Two hundred and eighty-five respondents of a possible 364 completed the survey. In both the scales, the overall mean scores declined significantly after the lecture-style learning in the first-year students, while the scores improved significantly after the training-style learning in the third-year students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the modified ATHCTS was composed of three subscales, and the modified RIPLS two subscales. Analyses using regression factor scores revealed that the scores of “quality of care delivery” subscale in the modified ATHCTS and those of “expertise” subscale in the modified RIPLS declined significantly in the first-year students. Consequently, IPE programs may be introduced early in the undergraduate curriculum to prevent stereotyped perceptions for IPE, and comprehensive IPE curricula may result in profound changes in attitudes among participating students.

Keywords::

• Interprofessional education
• lecture style
• multi-professional education
• training style
• undergraduate curricula

Acknowledgements

This report was supported by a Support Program for Distinctive University Education by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). We thank professor Hirokazu Murakami, the former dean of GUSHS; professor Kuniaki Takata, President of Gunma University; and professors Jun-ichi Tamura and Noriyuki Koibuchi, members of the Education Committee in the School of Medicine for their kind support and critical reviews. We also thank Mr. Mutsuhito Yomoda and Ms. Kyoko Tsuda for their kind assistance and Ms. Mika Sato for her kind assistance and typing.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the writing and content of this paper.