A Protocol for a Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Interprofessional Education Interventions in Pre-Licensure Health Professions Education

Abstract

\n Background: A growing body of research demonstrates that interprofessional education (IPE) has the potential to lead to successful interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP). In turn, IPCP has potential to mitigate the negative effects associated with an underfunded and shrinking healthcare workforce and population growth. Nonetheless, over the past decade, there has been a lack of systematic reviews that have examined the effectiveness of IPE in preparing pre-licensure health professions students for IPCP. The purpose of this paper is to provide a protocol for a systematic review that will explore and identify (1) whether IPE interventions in the past decade have addressed the shortcomings of past interventions, (2) the effectiveness of recent IPE in preparing students for IPCP, and (3) current knowledge gaps within the field. Methods: We used the Cochrane Collaboration and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines to articulate this protocol. Furthermore, we used the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study Design (PICOS) framework to formulate our research questions, “What are the major trends and findings of IPE implementation studies conducted over the last decade (2010–2020)?” and “How do the trends and findings of IPE studies conducted over the last decade compare with IPE studies in the decade prior?” Discussion: The systematic review is ongoing. We expect to complete it by September 2021. This systematic review will provide a useful synthesis of best practices in the implementation of IPE between 2010 and 2020 as well as their effectiveness in preparing health professions students for IPCP. Systematic review registration: We submitted this protocol with PROSPERO on January 19th, 2021.