Interprofessional Learning for Veterinary Students Through a Community-based Experience
Poster Description:
BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) is increasingly present in veterinary medicine education and veterinary students’ inclusion in IPE offers other health professions students opportunities to learn about the profession, One Health, and important variants in collaborative practice. The purpose of this study was to examine first year veterinary students’ perceptions of their learning from a longitudinal community-based IPE experience with other health professions learners and community volunteers. Knowledge gained from student learning outcomes can better inform educators and future veterinary students about the learning benefits of their participation in the experience and continue to improve the curriculum for all students.
METHODS: At the end of the required IPE experience, Putting Families First, veterinary students completed reflections that asked: 1) how their interprofessional team worked to complete experience requirements (e.g., home visits and a family health improvement project); and 2) how they will apply their learning in their clinical rotations. Reflections were independently content analyzed by three researchers for major themes; the team met to determine final themes and their meaning.
RESULTS: 76 of 130 (58%) students in the 2021-2022 academic year consented for their responses to be used for research. Major themes regarding teamwork skills used consisted of: 1) Adaptability; 2) Communication, with a sub-theme of closed-loop communication; and 3) Mutual Support of team members. Regarding their learning in future clinical rotations, themes were: 1) Communication, and 2) Need to understand the client’s life circumstances. Communication included sub-themes of listening; speaking with clients; communicating with other health professionals; and closed-loop communication.
CONCLUSION: The IPE experience provided veterinary students opportunities to practice specific teamwork skills in an interprofessional team; those skills mirrored skills emphasized in the IPE experience curriculum. Students recognized the importance of communication techniques, including communication with other health professionals, in their future clinical work. Related to their work with the community volunteers, students learned the value in learning about their clients’ life circumstances, i.e., social determinants of health, and how these affect the clients’ ability to care for their animals, and in turn, best treatment approaches to recommend.
IMPLICATIONS: This IPE experience provides veterinary students multiple learning outcomes valuable for their future work as clinicians. The opportunity to apply their teamwork and communication skills, as well as to gain insights about how social determinants of health affect their future clients and patients, promotes their ability to become collaborative ready for practice.
