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Article
Comparison of an In-Person versus a Virtual Interprofessional Education Activity Focused on Professional Communication.
Pharmacy
  • Tracey DelNero, University of the Pacific
  • Deepti Vyas, University of the Pacific
Department
Physician Assistant
Abstract

Early provision of interprofessional education (IPE) is imperative to ensure effective communication between healthcare professionals. However, there are several barriers to offering adequate IPE, including space restrictions and lack of human resources, prompting exploration of alternative modalities. In 2019, an IPE activity was offered in person with 213 pharmacy and 45 physician assistant (PA) students participating in one-on-one team huddles focusing on managing an acutely ill patient. In 2020, the same IPE activity, including 194 pharmacy and 45 PA students, was offered virtually. Peer evaluations, an attitudes survey, and confidence surveys were administered to evaluate the impact of the IPE activity. A student t-test and descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the data. On average, PA students in the virtual group rated their peers higher than PA students in the in-person group, with little difference in the pharmacy peer evaluation of their PA partner. Ninety percent of pharmacy students and 91% of PA students in the virtual group felt that "they learned something new regarding therapeutic management" from their partner versus 84% of pharmacy and 81% of PA students in the in-person group. In conclusion, using a virtual modality for a communications-focused IPE was not detrimental to student attitudes and did not adversely affect peer perceptions.

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-15-2021
DOI
10.3390/pharmacy9020111
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information
Tracey DelNero and Deepti Vyas. "Comparison of an In-Person versus a Virtual Interprofessional Education Activity Focused on Professional Communication." Pharmacy Vol. 9 Iss. 2 (2021) p. 111 ISSN: 2226-4787
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tracey-delnero/8/