Lindsay Baker

Simulated interprofessional education: An analysis of teaching and learning processes

Simulated learning activities are increasingly being used in health professions and interprofessional education (IPE). Specifically, IPE programs are frequently adopting role-play simulations as a key learning approach. Despite this widespread adoption, there is little empirical evidence exploring the teaching and learning processes embedded within this type of simulation. This exploratory study provides insight into the nature of these processes through the use of qualitative methods. A total of 152 clinicians, 101 students and 9 facilitators representing a range of health professions, participated in video-recorded role-plays and debrief sessions. Videotapes were analyzed to explore emerging issues and themes related to teaching and learning processes related to this type of interprofessional simulated learning experience. In addition, three focus groups were conducted with a subset of participants to explore perceptions of their educational experiences. Five key themes emerged from the data analysis: enthusiasm and motivation, professional role assignment, scenario realism, facilitator style and background and team facilitation. Our findings suggest that program developers need to be mindful of these five themes when using role-plays in an interprofessional context and point to the importance of deliberate and skilled facilitation in meeting desired learning outcomes.

Neophyte facilitator experiences of interprofessional education: implications for faculty development.

The facilitation of learners from different professional groups requires a range of interprofessional knowledge and skills (e.g. an understanding of possible sources of tension between professions) in addition to those that are more generic, such as how to manage a small group of learners. The development and delivery of interprofessional education (IPE) programs tends to rely on a small cohort of facilitators who have typically gained expertise through ‘hands-on’ involvement in facilitating IPE and through mentorship from more experienced colleagues. To avoid burn-out and to meet a growing demand for IPE, a larger number of facilitators are needed. However, empirical evidence regarding effective approaches to prepare for this type of work is limited. This article draws on data from a multiple case study of four IPE programs based in an urban setting in North America with a sample of neophyte facilitators and provides insight into their perceptions and experiences in preparing for and delivering IPE. Forty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted before (n  ==  20) and after (n  ==  21) program delivery with 21 facilitators. Findings indicated that despite participating in a three-fold faculty development strategy designed to support them in their IPE facilitation work, many felt unprepared and continued to have a poor conceptual understanding of core IPE and interprofessional collaboration principles, resulting in problematic implications (e.g. ‘missed teachable moments’) within their IPE programs. Findings from this study are discussed in relation to the IPE, faculty development and wider educational literature before implications are offered for the future delivery of interprofessional faculty development activities.

Who am I? Key influences on the formation of academic identity within a faculty development program

Introduction: Professional identity encompasses how individuals understand themselves, interpret experiences, present themselves, wish to be perceived, and are recognized by the broader professional community. For health professional and health science educators, their ‘academic’ professional identity is situated within their academic community and plays an integral role in their well being and productivity. This study aims to explore factors that contribute to the formation and growth of academic identity (AI) within the context of a longitudinal faculty development program. Methods: Using a qualitative case study approach, data from three cohorts of a 2-year faculty development program were explored and analyzed for emerging issues and themes related to AI. Results: Factors salient to the formation of AI were grouped into three major domains: personal (cognitive and emotional factors unique to each individual); relational (connections and interactions with others); and contextual (the program itself and external work environments). Discussion: Faculty development initiatives not only aim to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes, but also contribute to the formation of academic identities in a number of different ways. Facilitating the growth of AI has the potential to increase faculty motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. Faculty developers need to be mindful of factors within the personal, relational, and contextual domains when considering issues of program design and implementation.

Assessment of interprofessional learning: the design of an interprofessional objective structured clinical examination (iOSCE) approach.

WilsonCentre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, CanadaINTRODUCTIONThere is a growing imperative for interprofessional educa-tion (IPE) and a shift towards interprofessional practicelinked to government initiatives to modernize healthcareservices and improve patient/client care (e.g. Barr et al.,2005). IPE is meant to instill the knowledge, skills, attitudesand values necessary for interdependent collaboration andteamwork with a focus on the efficient delivery of high-quality patient/client-centred care. The link between IPEand equipping students in healthcare for collaborativepractice has been made for several years (e.g. Szasz, 1969).Despite the broad adoption of IPE across a number ofeducational institutions, in general, there continues to belittle focus on the development and implementation ofsound assessment strategies.Widely used in medicine, the objective structured clinicalexamination(OSCE)aimstoassessclinicalknowledge,skills,behaviours and attitudes by structured observation (van derVleuten & Schuwirth, 2005). An interprofessional OSCE(iOSCE) uses this method to assess collaborative knowledge,skills, behaviours and attitudes (Morison & Stewart, 2005).TheiOSCEprovidesanalternativetoreflectionexercisesthatare more typically used to assess interprofessional attributes.This article reports on the development of an iOSCE in alarge university in North America which contains 10 healthscience faculties: dentistry, physical education and health,medical radiation sciences, medicine, nursing, occupationaltherapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, social work andspeech–language pathology. Specifically, we describe themethods used to engage participation from all healthprofessions in its development; report on the topic themesselected to develop into clinical scenarios; and providedetails of the iterative process planned to yield a reliable andvalid product.METHODSInterprofessional leaders from these different faculties(n¼23) with collective responsibility for overseeingthe development and implementation of a new IPEcurriculum were invited to participate in this study.A modified Delphi process was used to generate contentfor the iOSCE. A Delphi is a decision-making process thatuses expert opinion, gathered anonymously in the form of asurvey, under the guidance and direction of a facilitator toreach group consensus through collaboration, independentanalysis and iteration. It allows for moderation/changethrough group processes (Rowe & Wright, 1999) andrequires several rounds to obtain consensus. As describedbelow, three rounds were used in this study.In general, all faculties at the university had familiaritywith and involvement in the IPE curriculum planning. Themajority had direct experience in developing IPE learningactivities (78%, n¼18), half had experience as examiners ordevelopers of a traditional OSCE station, but as this is a newmethod of assessment none had experience as an examineror developer of an iOSCE station.In the first round, participants were asked to write fivebrief healthcare clinical scenarios, requiring participation offive or more different healthcare professions that involvedcompletion of a task as an interprofessional team. Thisresulted in a pool of 80 scenarios. Scenarios werethematically analyzed by the project team and through aprocess of discussion and modification, agreement was

The ties that bind: a network approach to creating a programme in faculty development

Medical Education 2010: 44 : 132–139

Twelve tips for ethical approval for research in health professions education.

Background: A growing number of faculty are engaging in research in health professions education. Suggestions continue to be made in the literature for a clear and less onerous pathway for the ethical review of this work. Aim: We aim to provide advice about the ethics application process for those conducting research in health professions education. Methods: We used critical reflection of our experiences as research ethics board (REB) members, applying for, reviewing and consulting about the ethics application process in both UK and Canadian health contexts in addition to evidence and advice that is available in the literature to inform the tips provided. Results: Twelve tips are offered to help faculty understand and navigate through the ethics application process. Conclusion: Health professionals have an important role to play in advancing the field of health professions education, and despite issues identified with current review pathways, REB review is in place to ensure that this work is undertaken safely and ethically. We believe the tips offered in this article will help faculty identify, and devise plans to address, some ethical issues that are common in health professions education research.

Evidence for curricular and instructional design approaches in undergraduate medical education: An umbrella review

Abstract Introduction: An umbrella review compiles evidence from multiple reviews into a single accessible document. This umbrella review synthesizes evidence from systematic reviews on curricular and instructional design approaches in undergraduate medical education, focusing on learning outcomes. Methods: We conducted bibliographic database searches in Medline, EMBASE and ERIC from database inception to May 2013 inclusive, and digital keyword searches of leading medical education journals. We identified 18,470 abstracts; 467 underwent duplicate full-text scrutiny. Results: Thirty-six articles met all eligibility criteria. Articles were abstracted independently by three authors, using a modified Kirkpatrick model for evaluating learning outcomes. Evidence for the effectiveness of diverse educational approaches is reported. Discussion: This review maps out empirical knowledge on the efficacy of a broad range of educational approaches in medical education. Critical knowledge gaps, and lapses in methodological rigour, are discussed, providing valuable insight for future research. The findings call attention to the need for adopting evaluative strategies that explore how contextual variabilities and individual (teacher/learner) differences influence efficacy of educational interventions. Additionally, the results underscore that extant empirical evidence does not always provide unequivocal answers about what approaches are most effective. Educators should incorporate best available empirical knowledge with experiential and contextual knowledge.

Exploring an IPE faculty development program using the 3-P model

IntroductionWhile interprofessional education (IPE) activities have expanded across clinical contextsand countries in the past decade, our empirical understanding of this form of education islimited by an over-reliance upon studies which continue to focus on short term learner-focused outcomes. As a result we have only a partial understanding of the attributes neededto become an effective interprofessional facilitator.Biggs (1993) argues that when evaluating programs, a singular focus on one sub-system ofeducation (e.g., learner, facilitator, teaching context) is overly simplistic and ignores keyelements in the learning process. Systems-based approaches provide a better understandingabout how such factors, for example, presage (e.g., learner demographics, facilitatorexpertise, political climate) may affect the delivery of a program, which in turn may impactits outcomes.In this paper we describe the design of both a faculty development program created tosupport IPE facilitators and a longitudinal systems-based evaluation. Emerging findingsfrom the quantitative data set are presented and discussed.BackgroundThe purpose of this IPE faculty development program was to enlarge the cohort offacilitators at a Canadian university and affiliated teaching hospitals who could then go on toeffectively design and deliver IPE initiatives. The program adopted a blended learning

Translating collaborative knowledge into practice: findings from a 6-month follow-up study

Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, Centre for Faculty Development, St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, and Centre for Interprofessional Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

A Mandala of Faculty Development: Using Theory-Based Evaluation to Explore Contexts, Mechanisms and Outcomes.

Demonstrating the impact of faculty development, is an increasingly mandated and ever elusive goal. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of current approaches. Here, we integrate realist and theory-driven evaluation approaches, to evaluate an intensive longitudinal program. Our aim is to elucidate how faculty development can work to support a range of outcomes among individuals and sub-systems in the academic health sciences. We conducted retrospective framework analysis of qualitative focus group data gathered from 79 program participants (5 cohorts) over a 10-year period. Additionally, we conducted follow-up interviews with 15 alumni. We represent the interactive relationships among contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes as a “mandala” of faculty development. The mandala illustrates the relationship between the immediate program context, and the broader institutional context of academic health sciences, and identifies relevant change mechanisms. Four primary mechanisms were collaborative-reflection, self-reflection and self-regulation, relationship building, and pedagogical knowledge acquisition. Individual outcomes, including changed teaching practices, are described. Perhaps most interestingly, secondary mechanisms—psychological and structural empowerment—contributed to institutional outcomes through participants’ engagement in change leadership in their local contexts. Our theoretically informed evaluation approach models how faculty development, situated in appropriate institutional contexts, can trigger mechanisms that yield a range of benefits for faculty and their institutions. The adopted methods hold potential as a way to demonstrate the often difficult-to-measure outcomes of educational programs, and allow for critical examination as to how and whether faculty development programs can accomplish their espoused goals.