'Are We Ready To Learn Together?' Attitudes Towards Inter Professional Learning Among Sri Lankan Health Professional Students

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) is important in developing good working relationships between different health professionals. Factors that influence attitudes towards IPE include gender, type of profession, and previous exposure to IPE. Investigating the attitudes toward IPE and the factors that affect these attitudes among pre-registration students in the different health professions will illuminate the needs and challenges of IPE in Sri Lanka. A cross sectional study was conducted with students in the clinical phase from Medicine, Physiotherapy and Nursing at the Faculty of Medicine and Nursing Training School, Colombo. All students were invited to complete the 19 items Readiness for Inter-professional Learning Scale questionnaire (RIPLS) (Parsell and Bligh, 1999). The response rate for the survey was 83%. Only 17.2% of the students reported previous IPE experiences. We sought a three-factor solution but the analysis highlighted that a single factor predominates (explaining 30% of variance). According to the 13 items which loaded to this factor, it was named 'value of teamwork'. We named the second factor as 'professional silos' as the 4 items suggested negative attitudes towards IPE. The findings suggest that students' attitudes towards IPE are generally positive. Other health professions students have more positive attitudes than medical students. The variable factor loading than the original validation suggests that students may need more clarity on the aim of IPE. This study suggests some focused approaches for IPE in Sri Lanka.