Abstract
Purpose: Interprofessional education (IPE) experiences are an essential component in preparing dental hygiene students to participate in future interprofessional (IP) collaborations to support comprehensive patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes, barriers and IPE practices in a national sample of dental hygiene faculty.
Methods: A 25-item, researcher-designed, electronic survey was sent to 1,800 dental hygiene faculty members to determine attitudes, collaboration and practices involving interprofessional education (IPE). Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U and the Kruksal Wallis Test of Independent Samples were used to analyze and compare data.
Results: The response rate was 22% (n=449). Results suggest faculty have positive attitudes toward IPE and most faculty (73%) incorporated IPE in their programs; however, time constraints were reported as the greatest barrier to IPE participation. A majority (85%) of respondents indicated a desire for greater emphasis on IPE in the curricula. Ethics (37%) was ranked as the most important IPE competency and teamwork the least (19%). Respondents from bachelor's degree programs were more likely to agree that learning with students in other health professions helps students become more effective members of a healthcare team than those from associate's degree programs (p = 0.025). Additionally, respondents from bachelor's degree programs were less likely to agree that clinical problem solving can only be learned when students are taught within their individual schools than those from associate degree programs (p = 0.022).
Conclusion: Most of the dental hygiene faculty surveyed considered IPE important, incorporated it into student experiences, and wanted greater curricular emphasis on IPE. Time and institutional support may limit expansion of IPE activities and more collaboration amongst program faculty may be needed.
- interprofessional education
- interprofessional collaboration
- dental hygiene education
- healthcare practice models
- interdisciplinary teams
Footnotes
Susan L. Tolle, RDH, MS is a professor; Gayle McCombs, RDH, MS is a professor emeritus; both in the School of Dental Hygiene, Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA.
Marlo M. Vernon, MPH, PhD is an assistant professor; Gianluca De Leo, PhD, MBA, is a professor; both in the College of Allied Health Sciences, Augusta University, Augusta, GA.
This manuscript supports the NDHRA priority area Professional development: education (occupational health and interprofessional collaboration).
- Received June 16, 2018.
- Accepted January 4, 2019.
- Copyright © 2019 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association