Perceptions and practices for interprofessional clinical education among students during clinical placements at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital, Kampala.

Abstract

Background: Interprofessional education occurs when two or more professions learn from each other to improve healthcare outcomes. Studies have indicated that good interprofessional education leads to better interprofessional collaborative practice and improves patient outcomes. Productive interprofessional education and its practice is greatly influenced by the perceptions of those involved in it. The perceptions are also good indicators of level of implementation and usefulness. In this study, the researcher explored the perceptions of interprofessional clinical education and described its practices among students on clinical placement in Kiruddu Referral Hospital. Methods: The study was a Cross Sectional qualitative study that used Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)conducted among Makerere University College of Health Sciences’ undergraduate Medicine, Nursing and Dental surgery students in year three, year four, and year five on clinical placement in Kiruddu Referral Hospital. The participants were purposively selected and a total of 13 students participated. Transcripts were obtained, inductively coded and analyzed in Microsoft Word 2019 using a thematic analysis approach. Results: The study revealed that students had good perceptions on interprofessional clinical education like building team work, sharing professional knowledge, better patient care, mutual respect among others. The perceived barriers to it included under qualified tutors, time factor, many students among others, the practices of interprofessional education were minimal and only ward rounds were described. Conclusion: interprofessional clinical education is really important and needs to be improved at all costs if we want to achieve the best patient centered care.