Interpreter-mediated doctor-patient interactions: interprofessional education in the training of future interpreters and doctors

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on interprofessional education (IPE), a teaching and learning strategy that is widely used in healthcare training. IPE is structured and usually situation-based training that involves two or more groups of professionals. Desired learning outcomes for practitioners or trainees of both groups include learning how the other group works and how to optimise working with them, whilst also gaining perspectives of how others see their own group’s work. Learning is achieved through participation in real or simulated activities. We address three research questions in looking at the achievement of learning outcomes for both interpreting and medical students: perceived usefulness of role-play as a component of IPE sessions, perceived increase of knowledge bases and the perceived usefulness of pre- and post-interactional (de-)briefings. Four IPE sessions were conducted involving 153 interpreting and medical students from late 2017 to early 2019 in Australia. A data sample based on 118 survey responses shows high levels of agreement that role-plays are a useful activity in IPE. Further, students record a high level of increase in their knowledge of the other professional group as well as of their own. The value of pre-interactional briefings and post-interactional exchanges is confirmed by all groups of informants.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• interpreter education
• medical training
• healthcare interpreting
• interpreting practice
• GP training

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Approval to gain data from human informants was provided by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee: Project no. 5730 – A multi-perspective approach to translation pedagogy and practice (2016-2018); Project no. 21111 – Inter-professional sessions – Interpreting, Medical, Social Work and Nursing students (2019-present).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jim Hlavac

Dr Jim Hlavac (PhD, Grad. Dip. Arts, Dip.Ed., BA Hons) is a senior lecturer in the Translation & Interpreting Studies Program, Monash University, and has over 20 years' experience as a NAATI-certified interpreter and trainer. He has been training interpreting students for seven years and has taught and co-ordinated professional development programs for interpreters working in the following settings: general healthcare, mental health services, judiciary and police, refugee and migrant law, and family violence.

Claire Harrison

Associate Professor Claire Harrison (MB BCh BAO MedSci MRCSI FRACGP) leads the General Practice teaching program at Monash University and works as a General Practitioner. She has received multiple teachings awards with research interests including measurement and improvement of competence in communication, safe prescribing and skill acquisition in ENT and ophthalmology. Dr Harrison is leading an Australian iteration of the Prescribing Skills Assessment, an international online teaching and assessment tool in clinical pharmacology. She is also the project lead of MEyeNET (innovative, online, clinical reasoning resource in ENT and ophthalmology).