Enhancing team-work and collaborative skills using interprofessional team-based learning (IPTBL)

Interprofessional education (IPE) is preparing health professions students to work as a team in a collaborative environment to provide holistic patient care. The objective of this study was to measure the preparedness of faculty and undergraduate health professions students toward Interprofessional education and to evaluate the Interprofessional teaching module delivered by IPTBL pedagogy. A quantitative Pretest-Posttest experimental study design was adopted using homogeneous convenience sampling. An IPE program was developed by IP Team which had three phases, first to measure the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning using (RIPLS) questionnaire, and second, to develop a Learning module for noncommunicable disease (Acute coronary syndrome), and the third Implementation of the module using IPTBL pedagogy. Seventy-eight participants volunteered for this IPE program, out of which 48 undergraduate health professions students from medicine and nursing programs and 30 faculties working in different disciplines and programs. There was a statistically significant difference observed in all the four subscales of RIPLS in health professions students and faculty before (Pre-Test) and after orientation (Post-Test). The overall mean scores improvement in the TRAT and peer evaluation indicates students' valuable contributions to the team. This study's findings showed health professional students and faculty demonstrated readiness for IPE. TBL is an effective pedagogy to deliver an Interprofessional learning module that enhances teamwork and collaboration skills, among health care professionals and can contribute to improving patient outcomes.