Rosanne Crouch¹, Joyti Zwar²

¹UniSA Department of Rural Health, PO Box 546, Port Pirie, SA, 5540, rosanne.crouch@unisa.edu.au
²CHSALHN, PO Box 546, Port Pirie, SA, 5540, joyti.zwar@sa.gov.au

Background

As a means of improving the quality and capacity of both local country clinical staff and undergraduate clinical education/placements, the Port Pirie Regional Health Service (PPRHS) prioritized to investigate the delivery of clinical services within a student led interprofessional (IP) clinic.  The aims included:

• increasing students experience and understanding of IP models of care.
• Delivering a comprehensive IPL education program including an opportunity for team discussion and reflection.
• enable students to experience a practical IP model of care.
• enable students to understand and value the contribution of a range of professions to a client’s care though participation in case discussions.
• encourage students to engage in self-directed IPL whilst on placement.

Method

Students were asked to voluntarily complete the Readiness of Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPL) Questionnaire pre and post involvement in the clinic.  Students also have the opportunity to reflect on their learning through weekly Interprofessional Learning (IPL) sessions.

Results

The clinic was commenced in July 2014 with students from all disciplines being rostered to the clinic.  An overview of the program and an analysis of the outcomes will be discussed.

Discussion

The establishment of this clinic enabled the implementation of evidence based clinical and education practice, where the focus remains on patient centered care.  A student led clinic offers the potential to deliver interprofessional clinical education, where students across professions are engaged within mentoring to understand the different roles and skills of multidisciplinary team members, principles of collaborative team-work and respectful, positive attitudes to multidisciplinary team work.

Biography

Rosanne is the Nursing and Allied Health Academic for the Department of Rural Health, University of South Australia. She is part of a team who provide education support for students on rural placement as well as clinical supervisors throughout the state.