Aim: This article describes a job-shadowing project that partnered second-year medical and third-year pharmacy students with an advanced practice nurse (APN) for a four-hour job- shadowing experience.
Background: In order to address the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Expert Panel core competencies of interprofessional communication, teamwork, and roles/responsibilities, this project implemented a job-shadowing experience to increase students' knowledge of APN roles and interprofessional collaborative team practices.
Methods: Forty volunteer medical and pharmacy students were paired together and completed the job-shadowing activity with an APN. Assessment of knowledge was measured by pre- and post-project surveys.
Results: Pre- and post-job-shadowing differences demonstrated statistical significance in the interprofessional domains of role awareness, collaboration and communication. These results suggest that an APN job-shadowing experience is effective in developing medical and pharmacy students' competencies in interprofessional collaborative practice.
Conclusion: Specific recommendations include creating enhanced job-shadowing experiences within the curriculums of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students, and assessing for evidence of enhanced IPEC competencies as a result of these learning experiences.
Keywords: And provider role awareness; Interprofessional education; Interprofessional job-shadowing; Interprofessional practice; Shadowing.
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