Collaboration in action: successful implementation of a learner-driven virtual interprofessional education curriculum in the clinical learning environment.

Though technological capabilities to provide high-quality, flexible interprofessional education (IPE) have continued to grow, this remains a largely undeveloped area in the clinical learning environment (CLE). To address this gap, the University of Minnesota launched the Collaboration in Action: Learner-Driven Curriculum (CIA-LDC) as an IPE model designed for sustainability in a post-pandemic world. Over the course of two academic years, the CIA-LDC framework evolved and expanded through an iterative, data-informed approach incorporating student feedback, academic programme co-creation, evolving literature, and lessons learned. Modifications to individual activities and the overall model are presented, as well as key lessons learned. The majority of CIA-LDC evaluation responses across 2 years agreed that the amount of time spent was reasonable, participation placed little to no burden on their preceptor or site, the experience supported target interprofessional competency development, and that IPE should be provided in the CLE. The CIA-LDC holds promise as a successful, quality model for IPE in the CLE, available to learners from any profession in any geographic location in any practice setting. Outcomes demonstrate a pedagogical design with buy-in and feasibility in a post-pandemic world, with tremendous potential for advanced educational research to prepare the next generation as a collaborative practice-ready workforce.

Excellence in Academic Physical Therapy: Promoting a Culture of Data Sharing.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Data analytics are increasingly important in health professions education to identify trends and inform organizational change in rapidly evolving environments. Unfortunately, limitations exist in data currently available to determine physical therapy (PT) academic excellence. It is imperative that the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) be able to demonstrate data-informed progress in addressing the common challenges faced by Doctor of Physical Therapy programs. POSITION AND RATIONALE: The Task Force to Explore Data and Technology to Evaluate Program Outcomes was convened by ACAPT to explore current and desired data and the needs, technology, and costs that would be required for ACAPT to assess program outcomes relative to excellence criteria. The Task Force performed a gap analysis of measures of excellence, provided evidence-based recommendations for advancing the use of data and technology systems in academic PT, and generated a comprehensive Assessment Excellence Map that subsequently led to a new streamlined Excellence Framework in the launch of the ACAPT Center for Excellence. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The vision of universal excellence in PT education necessitates clear alignment and centralization of common data to support efficient processes to assess excellence. The transformative nature of data is untapped in PT academic endeavors, and nascent work to establish and sustain a culture of centralized data sharing and assessment will help to drive program-level and profession-level excellence in PT education.

Successful pilot application of multi-attribute utility analysis concepts in evaluating academic-clinical partnerships in the United States: a case report.

Strong partnerships between academic health professions programs and clinical practice settings, termed academic-clinical partnerships, are essential in providing quality clinical training experiences. However, the literature does not operationalize a model by which an academic program may identify priority attributes and evaluate its partnerships. This study aimed to develop a values-based academic-clinical partnership evaluation approach, rooted in methodologies from the field of evaluation and implemented in the context of an academic Doctor of Physical Therapy clinical education program. The authors developed a semi-quantitative evaluation approach incorporating concepts from multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) that enabled consistent, values-based partnership evaluation. Data-informed actions led to improved overall partnership effectiveness. Pilot outcomes support the feasibility and desirability of moving toward MAUA as a potential methodological framework. Further research may lead to the development of a standardized process for any academic health profession program to perform a values-based evaluation of their academic-clinical partnerships to guide decision-making.

Health Professions Educational Debt: Personal, Professional, and Psychological Impacts 5 Years Post-graduation.

INTRODUCTION: Cost burden in health professions education is rising. To bridge the gap between growing tuition and stagnating wages, student loans are increasingly obtained to cover educational costs. The spiraling after-effects are a source of acute concern, raising alarms across institutions and occupations. There is little dissemination to date of feasible data collection strategies and outcomes beyond 1 year post-graduation. Research is needed in evaluating the impacts of healthcare educational debt on career and personal choices following transition to practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study utilized a cross-sectional, mixed methods design. Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program graduates 5 years following degree completion completed a quantitative online survey, with topics including debt-to-income ratio, educational debt repayment strategies, impact on personal factors, non-education debt, and perceived value of their health professions education. Subsequent phone interviews were conducted by student researchers to gain insights into alumni perceptions of the impacts of educational debt on personal and professional decision-making. Data analysis involved descriptive and correlational quantitative statistics and open and axial coding of interview constructs. RESULTS: The mixed methods format was successful in obtaining desired depth of response data. Quantitative findings demonstrated primary factors impacted by educational debt as savings, housing, leisure, discretionary spending, and family planning. Qualitative findings revealed impacts on themes of "personal factors" (81%), "professional factors" (62.5%), and "psychological factors" (56%) 5 years after graduation. Most negatively impacted were housing decisions, hours worked, initial job selection, and ability to save for the future, contributing to decreased mental health wellbeing with anxiety, frustration, and guilt. The majority (75%) of respondents perceived a high degree of value during and following their DPT education, though many expressed discordance between expectations and realities of practice. DISCUSSION: Findings demonstrate that impacts of health professional educational debt in professional, personal, and psychological factors continue 5 years following degree completion, regardless of debt load. Successful implementation of this pilot methodology indicates potential for use of such extended data collection strategies. Further research is needed at the programs, profession, and/or interprofessional level to garner depth of understanding to guide interventions designed to mitigate or prevent these long-term repercussions.

Students' Knowledge and Self-Perceptions Regarding Integrative Medicine and Health Following Training in First-Year Graduate PA, PT, and OT Programs.

Integrative medicine and health (IMH) content and pedagogy for health professional education best practices are not established. Physician assistant (PA), physical therapy (PT), and occupational therapy (OT) students' knowledge and self-perception of integrative health, lifestyle behavior change, and professional well-being were assessed pre- and post- participation in IMH online modules. Students demonstrated significant increases in knowledge and self-perception scores from pre- to post-test. Pre- and post-test knowledge score means varied by discipline. Pre-test self-perception score means did not vary across disciplines, while the post-test self-perception score mean was significantly higher for PA students compared to other disciplines. Online integration of IMH content does not require significant curricular revisions and is a promising pedagogy for increasing PA, PT, and OT students' understanding of the IMH approach.

Promoting collaboration and cultural competence for physician assistant and physical therapist students: A cross-cultural decentralized interprofessional education (IPE) model.

PURPOSE: As the United States health care model progresses towards medical teams and the country's population continues to diversify, the need for health professional education programs to develop and implement culturally specific interprofessional education (IPE) becomes increasingly imperative. A wide range of models exists for delivering and implementing IPE in health education, but none have included the cultural components that are vital in educating the health professional. METHODS: A cross-cultural decentralized IPE model for physician assistant (PA) and physical therapy (PT) students was developed. This three-part IPE series was created using an established cultural curricular model and began with the exploration of self, continued with the examination of various dimensions of culture, and concluded with the exploration of the intersection between health and culture. We assessed student satisfaction of the IPE experiences and students' engagement and attitudes towards IPE using a three-item open-ended questionnaire administered after each cross-cultural activity and the Interprofessional Education Series Survey (IESS) upon the completion of the series. RESULTS: IESS responses showed that PA and PT students reported benefits in interprofessional collaboration and cultural awareness and expressed overall satisfaction with the series. Qualitative analysis revealed growth in student response depth consistent with the scaffolded focus of each IPE module in the series. CONCLUSION: The trends in this three-part series suggest that institutions looking to develop culturally inclusive IPE educational initiatives may have success through a decentralized model mirroring the effective cultural progression focused on addressing exploration of self, examination of various dimensions of culture, and exploration of the intersection between health and culture.