Preprofessional OT Students’ Learning of Interprofessional Team Skills During Clinical Fieldwork

Difficulties with interprofessional care and teamwork among healthcare professionals plague our healthcare system and detract from the quality of care (Rosen et al., 2018). While the literature related to outcomes of interprofessional education programs is growing, there is little research documenting interprofessional team skills learning for occupational therapy (OT) students. A phenomenological study has been completed which illuminates the process of interprofessional team skills learning during Level II fieldwork for occupational therapy students. This qualitative study answers the research question, ‘How do pre-professional OT students learn interprofessional team skills during clinical fieldwork?’ Semi-structured interviews with sixteen master’s degree OT students after Level II were used to investigate student learning of interprofessional team skills. Study results show how promotive interaction with interprofessional colleagues (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) can enhance experiential learning (Kolb, 1984) of interprofessional team skills and facilitate social interdependence (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). The extent to which positive social interdependence is present in the fieldwork setting was shown to influence the depth of OT student learning, as well as their ability to complete full cycle experiential learning (Kolb, 1984) which enhances professional growth and development. These findings elucidate rich dimensions of interprofessional team skills learning and suggest how pre-professional and worksite-based interprofessional education curricula can be enhanced and developed to facilitate team skills acquisition for pre-professional occupational therapy fieldwork students. If OT student curricula could be enhanced in preparation for interprofessional fieldwork these students could serve as change agents, facilitating interprofessional collaboration and improving quality of care in the healthcare field for the benefit of all patients and clients.

References

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational researcher, 38(5), 365–379. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09339057

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (1st Ed.). Prentice Hall.

Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J., & Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care. American Psychologist, 73(4), 433. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000298