An Interprofessional Education Program

The IPE program titled Chronic Disease Management and Patient Safety was carried out as a hybrid (online and face-to-face) and three-session program with a focus on interprofessional communication. The program provided students interprofessional collaboration, communication, roles and responsibilities, ethics, lifelong learning, and health service delivery skills based on patient needs and teamwork.

For this program, an announcement was made through the faculties which provide healthcare education and volunteering students from the Faculties of Dentistry, Medicine and Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics, Nursing, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation) were included in the education program. A whatsapp group of volunteer students was created and used for communication and motivational strategies. The link was sent to the students ahead of time via e-mail and the whatsapp group. The tactics and strategies required by the ARCS-V Motivation Model were used throughout the whole process.

• First session: In this session, which was online and lasted for 120 minutes, the education program was introduced to the students and conceptual information was presented. Links to the sociodemographic data form and the RIPLS were shared with the students and they were asked to fill them out prior to face to-face training.

The second and third sessions were face-to-face and were comprised of two 8-hour work days. Facilitators and students participated in these sessions.

• Second session: Introductions and warm-up exercises were carried out. In the development phase of the ADDIE instructional design, four scenarios addressing "Chronic Disease Management and Patient Safety" which involved different health professionals were prepared. The participants were segmented into four study groups, each delineated by their respective professional domains.The formation of these groups was intentionally designed to include a proportional mix of professional fields relevant to each specific scenario. For example, the makeup of one scenario group included 2 medical students, 2 nursing students, 1 physiotherapy student, and 2 dentistry students. In a parallel manner, a different scenario group was arranged with 2 students from medicine, 2 from nursing, 1 from dentistry, and 2 focusing on nutrition and dietetics. This strategic grouping fostered a diverse yet balanced professional composition in each group, directly aligning with the scenario-driven learning objectives.

Two facilitators and one observer were appointed to each group. The task of the facilitators was to ensure that the scenario was read by the students and the discussion was guided by discussion questions.

Observers watched the students and facilitators and took notes on the process of conducting the guided discussion as part of the interprofessional education program.

The whole discussion process was audio- and video-recorded with the voluntary consent of the students and facilitators.

At the end of the day;

• Each group was asked to make a presentation of their achievements according to the interprofessional education competencies (roles and responsibilities, communication skills, collaborative leadership, teamwork, ethics, approach to patient needs and lifelong learning) in the scenarios they discussed.
• Each student was scored by the facilitators using the IPE evaluation form.
• Each student was given questions prepared for reflection based on the scenario they discussed and asked to submit them to the facilitators as homework within a few hours.

• In preparation for the next day, all facilitators were provided with the discussion session recordings and students' reflection assignments and were asked to prepare feedback.

  • Third Session: This session was planned in a large group format including students, facilitators, and observers.

The session started with a warm-up chat. A presentation on the outcomes of the discussion were made by the student who had the role of spokesperson in each group.

The facilitators showed the discussion video segments to the whole group and gave feedback by sharing the positive ideas and the ideas that needed to be improved. They presented the content analysis of the student reflection assignments.

At the end of the session, verbal feedback was received from all participants regarding the implementation. Certificates were given to all participants.

The ARCS-V motivation model scales and the RIPLS were administered to the students.