Teaching/learning formats and cross-cutting issues for the design of interprofessional education for healthcare professions - literature review and analysis of training and examination regulations.

BACKGROUND

Educational institutions in Germany are facing the challenge of providing healthcare professionals with the skills they need to collaborate interprofessionally. Appropriate skills can be acquired through suitable teaching/learning formats and cross-cutting topics. However, there is a lack of empirical results on the design of appropriate teaching/learning formats in order to apply the cross-cutting topics effectively in as many healthcare professions as possible.

METHODOLOGY

An integrative literature review on suitable teaching/learning formats was carried out in which 21 titles were analysed and presented in a table. The typology according to Sottas et al. was used as a deductive evaluation framework. In order to identify cross-cutting issues, an analysis of the training and examination regulations for healthcare professions in Germany was carried out, with an evaluation using frequency counts.

RESULTS

The three most common cross-cutting topics are counselling, quality assurance and the structured care process. The topics are to be taught using methods such as case-based and problem-oriented learning, interprofessional group work or simulation. The debriefing of interprofessional teaching/learning formats is highly relevant.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: Interprofessional teaching for healthcare professions rarely takes place in the form of observation-based and hands-on learning in Germany. In addition, only a few healthcare professions are usually involved in interprofessional teaching and learning formats. Both of these factors impede the teaching of complex interprofessional skills.