Are first-year healthcare undergraduates at an Asian university ready for interprofessional education?

Abstract

The health professions education at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is addressing the change in health service delivery in Singapore through the provision of interprofessional education (IPE). The success of this educational approach depends on the readiness of health profession students to learn together. Although such readiness has been explored in the Western institutions, little is known among healthcare students in Asian university. This study aimed to examine the readiness of healthcare students' toward IPE at NUS. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale was administered to first-year medical, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry students. Overall, the students' readiness for IPE was high. However, compared to the medical students, a significant less readiness was reported by the pharmacy and dentistry students. This study advocates the need to enhance the pharmacy and dentistry students' awareness of their professional role on collaborative practice and the benefits of IPE to their clinical practice.