Has Interprofessional Education Changed Learning Preferences? A National Perspective.

OBJECTIVE: To assess how changes in curriculum, accreditation standards, and certification and licensure competencies impacted how medical students and physician residents value interprofessional team and patient-centered care. PRIMARY DATA SOURCE: The Department of Veterans Affairs Learners' Perceptions Survey (2003-2013). The nationally administered survey asked a representative sample of 56,569 U.S. medical students and physician residents, with a comparison group of 78,038 nonphysician trainees, to rate satisfaction with 28 elements, in two overall domains, describing their clinical learning experiences at VA medical centers. STUDY
DESIGN: Value preferences were scored as independent adjusted associations between an element (interprofessional team, patient-centered preceptor) and the respective overall domain (clinical learning environment, faculty, and preceptors) relative to a referent element (quality of clinical care, quality of preceptor). PRINCIPAL
FINDINGS: Physician trainees valued interprofessional (14 percent vs. 37 percent, p < .001) and patient-centered learning (21 percent vs. 36 percent, p < .001) less than their nonphysician counterparts. Physician preferences for interprofessional learning showed modest increases over time (2.5 percent/year, p < .001), driven mostly by internal medicine and surgery residents. Preferences did not increase with trainees' academic progress.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite changes in medical education, physician trainees continue to lag behind their nonphysician counterparts in valuing experience with interprofessional team and patient-centered care. © Health Research and Educational Trust.