Perceptions towards Inter-Professional Education (IPE) among Pre-Registration Health Professional Students in Sri Lanka

Introduction of Inter-Professional Education (IPE) into healthcare professions’ curricula has become an important aim globally. Health professional students experience informal interprofessional learning opportunities during their clinical training years. 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 the students from 8 health professional groups (Medicine, Physiotherapy, Nursing Diploma/ Degree, Medical Laboratory Science (MLS), Pharmacy, Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy) at different health educational institutions. A total of 686 students were invited to complete the self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire mainly consists of the Readiness for Inter-Professional Learning Scale (RIPLS). The RIPLS data was analyzed using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. The response rate for the survey was 83%. Only 18.9% of the students reported previous IPE experiences. We sought a three-factor solution but the analysis highlighted that a single factor predominates. According to the 14 items which loaded to this factor, it was named as ‘value of teamwork’. The findings suggest that students’ attitudes towards IPE are generally positive. 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. Promoting the importance of interprofessional learning through educational methods might assist to improve the attitudes toward IPE.