Back to basics for curricular development: A proposed framework for thinking about how interprofessional learning occurs

ABSTRACT

The persistent difficulty of defining the mechanisms of interprofessional learning that can lead to collaborative behavior poses a challenge to evidence-based curricular design. To begin the process of building a framework for curricular development we used an inductive approach to better understand the lived experience of students engaged in an interprofessional activity. Utilizing methods from grounded theory, we analyzed reflective essays from an interprofessional classroom-based workshop for early learners at Case Western Reserve University. Students from four professional schools (medicine, nursing, social work, and dentistry) participated in facilitator guided small groups for an interactive, case-based, tabletop simulation workshop. Written reflections (N = 245) were collected, and a coding scheme was iteratively developed through constant comparison analysis in the review of a random subsample of essays (n = 19), and saturation was achieved in the second subset (n = 15). Second-order themes and four aggregate dimensions arose from the data. Aggregate dimensions were integrated into a proposed framework for the interprofessional learning process, including factors identified as necessary for the learning to occur. In this report, we describe the development of this preliminary framework, examine its components, and demonstrate potential utility in relation to established theory and research.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• qualitative method
• interprofessional learning
• framework

Declaration of interest

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

Notes

1. Reference to argument within the student’s simulated interprofessional team was resolved in the course of the session.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Notes on contributors

Ellen Luebbers

Ellen Luebbers, MD, is an Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Interim Medical Director for the Mt Sinai Skills and Simulation Center. She is a medical educator and a Quality Scholar though the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA. Her medical practice was Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.  She was the primary investigator on a 4-year interprofessional education grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and is currently the primary investigator on a multi-year grant from the Key Bank Foundation to develop community based interprofessional education and support the Interprofessional Student Run Health Clinic.

Njoke Thomas

Njoke Thomas, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Management & Organization at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Her research investigates how newcomers to a profession move from an idealized vision of their future work to a more realistic and personally relevant understanding as they experiment with their roles. In her primary research stream, she employs archival and field research to explore critical events in medical professionals' socialization and training. She has also participated in curriculum design to promote interprofessional learning among medical, dental, nursing, public health, and social work students.

Todd Fennimore

Todd Fennimore is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, with an appointment in the Center for Medical Education.  He has been active in designing and facilitating problem-based learning approaches, geriatric care, and interprofessional learning in medical education.  He is a Ph.D. candidate in medical anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at CWRU, where he has focused his studies on chronic illness. He is a Research Associate at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, where he is an educator in the family medicine residency program and conducts research on patients’ chronic disease management of heart failure.

Catherine Demko

Catherine Demko, PhD is an Associate Professor in Community Dentistry at CWRU. Trained as an epidemiologist, her research interests are program evaluation of interventions for behavior change, including healthcare students and practicing providers.  She is the lead evaluator for two grant-funded interprofessional education programs. Dr. Demko was an NIH Trainee on Cancer Prevention and Control, an NIH Principal Investigator for adolescent behavior change for dietary habits and the lead evaluator for childhood oral health preventive programs.

David Aron

David Aron, MD, is Director of Clinical Program Research and Education at the Cleveland VA Medical Center. He is a clinical endocrinologist, health services researcher, and leader of the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program, a training program in quality improvement. He is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University. He is also Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management where he teaches a class on Managing Complex Systems. His current research interests have included health services and implementation research related to quality measurement and improvement, especially diabetes-related, and most recently, applications of principles of complex systems.

Mary Dolansky

Mary Dolansky, PhD, RN, is the Sarah C. Hirsh Endowed Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Director of the QSEN Institute, and an Associate Professor at the School of Medicine. She co-directed the interprofessional Center of Excellence in Primary Care at the Cleveland VA (2011-2016) and then served as the interprofessional integration adviser. In these roles she developed and evaluated both an interprofessional curriculum for primary care and a nurse practitioner residency program.