Undergraduate Health Science Students Readiness for Interprofessional Learning (RIPL) (Staff)

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Undergraduate health science education recently experienced a cultural shift in pedagogical philosophy. Nursing, medical and pharmacy students were traditionally expected to acquire knowledge specific to their discipline, and to learn separately. It is now posited that interprofessional education (IPE) has the potential to enhance students attitudes towards teamwork and collaboration, leading to improved patient care and outcomes. The Faculty of Health Science at the University of Tasmania is commited to advancing inter-professional education within undergraduate curricula. As a result, many opportunities are becoming available for undergraduate health science students to participate in interprofessional learning activities.

In tandem with the shift toward IPE there has been debate about how and when it should be implemented in undergraduate health science education, and its effectiveness as a pedagogical activity. To assist educationalists with planning and developing relevant curricula, it was necessary to gain more knowledge about student attitudes toward inter-professional learning.

The Readiness for Inter-Professional Learning Scale (RIPLS) survey was developed to measure student attitudes to shared learning (Parsell & Bligh 1999). This tool was used to measure attitudes of health science students at the University of Tasmania towards inter-professional education, across each discipline and at different stages of the course.

The research took place over an 18 month period during 2005-2006. The questionnaires used were completed by students studying in all years of undergraduate medicine, nursing, pharmacy and human life sciences at the University of Tasmania. Four focus groups with students representing all years of each participating discipline were also conducted. The data was compiled and analysed. The findings were disseminated to the Faculty of Health Science in the form of a research report and published as a journal article in 2007.

  Readiness for Interprofessional Learning final report