INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

To advocate for interprofessional education as a component of didactic and experiential education in pharmacy workforce education and training programs; further,

To support interprofessional education, mentorship, and professional development for healthcare professionals and learners; further,

To urge collaboration with other healthcare professionals and executives in the development of education and training models for interprofessional, team-based, patient-centered care; further,

To foster documentation and dissemination of outcomes achieved as a result of interprofessional education of healthcare professionals.

Rationale

Pharmacist involvement in team-based patient care improves medication-use safety and quality and reduces healthcare costs. For patient-care teams to be effective, they must possess unique skills that facilitate effective team-based interactions. Some pharmacists are exposed to team-based care models through interprofessional education and interaction with students of other disciplines when they are student pharmacists. Some colleges of pharmacy have very effective interprofessional didactic courses that include medical, pharmacy, nursing, and other healthcare professional students. Additionally, most experiential rotations involve interaction with other members of the healthcare team and help students of all disciplines learn about the expertise of other team members. However, not all colleges and schools are effective in providing interprofessional education that facilitates team-based patient care. The reasons vary, but may include differences in teaching philosophies or a lack of access to other health professional schools at the university or campus.

The Hospital Care Collaborative (HCC) has described common principles for team-based care. The HCC principles recognize the knowledge, talent, and professionalism of all team members and support role delineation, collaboration, communication, and the accountability of individual team members and the entire team. The HCC principles note that collaboration of the healthcare team can lead to improved systems and processes that provide care more efficiently and result in better patient outcomes. The HCC states that current undergraduate and postgraduate professional education of team members is inadequate to promote true team functions.

ASHP believes that interprofessional education is important not only for student pharmacists but also throughout one’s professional career. Similarly, it is important for other professionals on the team so that collaboration and synergistic relationships can develop. Failure to establish these collaborative working relationships early in one’s career can result in poor interactions in years to come. A positive working relationship, including interprofessional mentorship, with physicians and nurses is productive, while a bad working relationship can be counterproductive and devastating to all parties, including patients.