1,633
Views
26
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Short Reports

A design thinking approach to evaluating interprofessional education

, , , , , , , , , & show all
Pages 378-380 | Received 21 Jul 2015, Accepted 17 Nov 2015, Published online: 30 Mar 2016
 

ABSTRACT

The complex challenge of evaluating the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on patient and community health outcomes is well documented. Recently, at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in the United States, leaders in health professions education met to help generate a direction for future IPE evaluation research. Participants followed the stages of design thinking, a process for human-centred problem solving, to reach consensus on recommendations. The group concluded that future studies should focus on measuring an intermediate step between learning activities and patient outcomes. Specifically, knowing how IPE-prepared students and preceptors influence the organisational culture of a clinical site as well as how the culture of clinical sites influences learners’ attitudes about collaborative practice will demonstrate the value of educational interventions. With a mixed methods approach and an appreciation for context, researchers will be able to identify the factors that foster effective collaborative practice and, by extension, promote patient-centred care.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our interlocutors at the seminar who sparked our thinking: George E. Thibault, MD, Edward M. Hundert, MD, Samuel Moulton, PhD, and colleagues at the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching, Liane Fernyhough, Heather Friedman, Andrew Milinazzo, Ravi Parikh, MD, and Charlotte Yeh, MD.

Declaration of interest

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

Funding

PSC received financial support from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University to hold this workshop.

Additional information

Funding

PSC received financial support from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University to hold this workshop.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.