Impact of an interprofessional medication error workshop on healthcare student perceptions

Background: The integration of interprofessional education (IPE) into health professional curricula is critical to ensuring safe and efficient delivery of patient care. The intent of this manuscript is to describe the results of a pilot study designed to evaluate the impact of a large-scale interprofessional medication error prevention workshop on student perceptions of team-based patient care in the prevention of medication errors.

Interprofessional education activity: Pharmacy, medical, and physician assistant students' perceptions of the role of multidisciplinary patient care teams in preventing medication errors were evaluated before and after participating in a three-hour interprofessional medication errors prevention workshop utilizing a modified version of the validated Attitudes Towards Health Care Teams Scale.

Discussion: When comparing student attitudes among the three schools, statistically significant differences in student perceptions across the items and subscales (e.g., quality of care/process and physician centrality) captured in the instrument utilized were identified. Additionally, differences in the responses of pharmacy, medical, and physician-assistant students were found, highlighting the areas where healthcare education can be targeted to bridge the gap in opinion.

Implications: We demonstrated an overall positive impact of an interprofessional medication errors prevention-themed workshop on the attitudes of the participating healthcare students. Future directions and research initiatives focusing on the role of IPE and the influence of IPE workshops on team-based performance are indicated to validate the influence of this method of education on the attitudes of post-graduate healthcare trainees and healthcare practitioners.