Key Elements of the Inter-professional Education (IPE): Perceptions amongst Pre-Registration Students in the Different Health Professions in Sri Lanka

Aims: Inter-professional education (IPE) is important in developing good working relationships between different health professionals. The key elements of IPE have entitled as clinical situations, skills expected in IPE and teaching / learning methods. Health professional students in Sri Lanka experience informal inter-professional learning opportunities during clinical years. The aim of this research was to explore student perceptions on these key elements of IPE.

Study Design: A cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted with the students who have had prior clinical training for a period of 1 year, from 8 health professional groups (Medical, Physiotherapy, Nursing Diploma, Nursing Degree, Medical Laboratory Science, Pharmacy, Audiology, Speech & Language Therapy) at different health educational institutions.

Methodology: A total of 686 students were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS. The part of the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The response rate for the survey was 84.8%.

Results: The findings suggest that the key elements of IPE are important to improve the aims of IPE. Most health care students agree that management of an acute situation, community based care and rehabilitative care are the most important clinical situations where students can learn to work as a team, one of the main aims of inter-professional learning. Respect for each other and communication skills were identified as the most imperative skills that can be improved through interprofessional learning. Most students strongly agree that demonstration and work based tasks in wards are key teaching methods for achieving the aims of IPE.

Conclusion: This study suggests some focused approaches for IPE in Sri Lanka and students may need more clarity on the aim of IPE.