Are Vocational School of Health Services Students Ready for Interprofessional Education?

Abstract

Background :Interprofessional education (IPE) is the process of learning about and from each other in order to improve the quality of health care and collaboration of two or more health profession in the fields of medicine, health, and social services. The aim of IPE is to provide a holistic approach to care, to coordinate and solution-oriented activities and to set more flexible working standards. IPE is present in various health professions’ curriculum in the world. There is a need for development of educational programs on this subject in Vocational School of Health Services in our country. In order for a successful program, it is critical that it is accepted by faculty, students, and educational managers. For this reason, the readiness of the students should be examined during the program development stage in IPE. The aim of this study was to determine the readiness of Vocational School of Health Services’ students for IPE. Methods: The study is in cross-sectional design. Students were selected by convenience sampling method. The data were collected at four Vocational Schools of Health Services in Turkey using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) developed by Parsell and Bligh (1999). Descriptive statistics and Student's t-tests were used in data analysis. Results: The number of the students participating in the study was 724 (%68,6). The mean total score for the RIPLS was 70.8±10.6 (min.19-max.95). The mean scores for the subscales 1-2-3 were respectively 35.9±6.4 (min.9-max.45); 25.1±4.6 (min.21-max.35); and 9.7±2.6 (min.3- max.15). There were significant differences between the mean total scores according to gender, year of study, satisfaction with their departments, and perception of success. Female students, first-year students, students who reported high satisfaction, and those whose perception of success was good obtained significantly higher mean total scores than their counterparts. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was found that Vocational School of Health Services students were ready for IPE. It is planned to design training programs on the subject.